An officer with the St. Joseph Police Department was transported to the hospital after responding to a burglary call Thursday morning only to fall through the floor of the home.
According to Sgt. Roy Hoskins officers Darryl Lehman and Jeff Lanning responded to a report of a burglary in progress around 11 a.m. at a home located in the 300 block of S. 17th St.
“As they entered Lehman stepped on a spongy part of the floor and his right leg went through the floor all the way up to his waist,” Sgt. Hoskins said. “His left leg did not go through the floor, twisting his hip.”
Hoskins said Lehman had only walked about 15 feet inside the front door when the rotten part of the floor gave way under him.
Lehman was unable to walk, complaining of back pain and left hip and right knee pain. An ambulance was called in to transport him to Mosaic Life Care for treatment.
“Still at the hospital undergoing testing,” Hoskins said around 3:20 p.m.
As far as the burglary call went, Hoskins said the resident had reported hearing someone forcing open a window downstairs.
“When officers got there, there was nobody inside the house. No suspects in the house,” Hoskins said.
Officer Lanning continued to get the information on the burglary report. However, no evidence of anything being taken was found.
Lehman is believed to have non-life threatening injuries from his fall. He will be off-duty until the severity of his injuries is determined.
“We go into enough homes that are in disrepair that it’s a daily danger. It’s something we deal with regularly,” Hoskins said. “Unfortunately there’s a lot more houses in this town I think then people realize in need of repairs.”