Amarillo Officer Hit By Car At Mexican Restaurant

You're on your lunch break from work, just looking for somewhere calm to go with some good food. You pull into the restaurant, head inside, order your food, and start working on those free chips and salsa.

Then all of a sudden, chaos ensues outside and your calm lunch now turns into a crime scene.

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This is exactly what happened yesterday at La Frontera just after 12 pm.

Amarillo PD was called out to the restaurant to look into and observe a domestic incident that was taking place. An off-duty officer went up to the suspect to identify himself, intervened in the disturbance, and tried to gather info as to what was happening.

The officer went to detain the suspect, and that was when things went completely haywire. The suspect got in his car to take off and hit the off-duty officer with the vehicle. Incredibly, the officer was able to stop and detain the suspect until some on-duty officers arrives on the scene.

Avante Leeshun Vanzandt was ultimately arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault on a Public Servant as well as a theft warrant out of Randall County, and what went from a simple domestic dispute at a restaurant turned into a whole lot more.

No word on the condition of the officer that was hit by the vehicle, but that's usually a good sign that they're doing ok.

Things have been a little out of control in Amarillo lately where the police force is having to have extra units and officers available, whether it be on-call or picking up extra shifts. I don't know if it's something in the water or what, but we need to pull it together and give these officers a break.