An 11 year-old boy seriously injured when the bicycle he was riding collided with a Toyota SUV on Bates Pike remains a patient at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga.

Investigation into the four o’clock accident on Wednesday is continuing by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit.

Investigators say the boy rode into the driver’s side of the east-bound SUV driven by Sylvia Peels, 54, of Cleveland. At the time the boy was attempting to cross Bates Pike from a church parking lot to Hughes Road.

Peels was taken by ambulance to SkyRidge Medical Center following the accident.

By Sheriff Jim Ruth

"Your enemy attacks where he sees your strength."

— Unknown philosopher

In the political realm most people think of political opposition as the enemy. Those of us in law enforcement often make other lifetime enemies, as well.

This was demonstrated very tragically in the murders of a district attorney and his wife in Texas, last week. Also, an assistant district attorney was gunned down in public a few weeks ago.

Planned assaults and attacks on law enforcement officers have taken place with some regularity in the United States. Yet, it has been somewhat rare that prosecutors have been targeted.

By Sheriff Jim Ruth

Almost three decades ago, one of our deputies was attending a class in the Basic Police Academy.

The class was on making a felony stop, which always has the potential of becoming a dangerous situation.

The instructor was a policeman from a large department, and also a member of its SWAT Team. He told the class that two officers should take cover behind their vehicle on the left side, while two other officers should cover the right side of the suspect’s car.

Our deputy asked the instructor how he should "handle a felony stop, when alone, when the nearest backup is 30 minutes away and the situation is deteriorating rapidly?"

The instructor thought silently for awhile, then bluntly answered, "I don’t know."