Update: Court Outcome in SA-2025-TR-000658
The traffic citation issued to Salina Police Officer Melissa Short-Eshelman following an April collision has been dismissed by the Saline County Attorney's Office, which stated the dismissal follows standard protocol for first-time offenses.
Background
On April 10, 2025, at approximately 7:31 PM, Officer Short-Eshelman's patrol vehicle collided with a civilian vehicle driven by Susan Price at the intersection of East Crawford Street and Lewis Street. The officer was responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens activated when the crash occurred.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol crash report, Price failed to yield at a stop sign to the oncoming emergency vehicle and was cited under K.S.A. 08-1528 and K.S.A. 08-1530. The same report noted that Officer Short-Eshelman was operating her patrol vehicle with a driver's license that had expired on February 8, 2025—more than two months prior to the collision—and was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of impact. She was subsequently cited for driving without a valid license.
Susan Price suffered internal injuries and was hospitalized for three days following the crash.
Court Outcome
In response to a Salina311 inquiry about Case SA-2025-TR-000658, Saline County Attorney John A. Reynolds confirmed that he dismissed the no-driver's license citation against Officer Short-Eshelman.
"I pulled the file. As is standard, I dismissed a no driver's because she got a current DL. This is standard in this type of case," Reynolds stated.
When asked to clarify whether this protocol applies even when the expired license violation occurred during an accident, Reynolds responded: "It is protocol on first offense. I did not see anything the officer did to cause the accident. Ms. Price, on the other hand, pulled in front of a police car traveling red lights and siren. That is what I am proceeding on."
George
