A Paradise police sergeant and a six-year-old girl were severely injured early Saturday, Aug. 26, 2026, when a suspected drunk driver ran a stop sign and slammed into a marked Paradise Police patrol vehicle at the intersection of Rio Bonito Road and State Route 99 near Biggs in Butte County. Authorities say the driver, 37-year-old Amie Elyse Kucera of Oroville, was heading eastbound on Rio Bonito Road at highway speed around 12:15 a.m. when her SUV struck the driver’s side of Sgt. John Alvies’ cruiser as he headed northbound on Highway 99. Alvies suffered life-threatening injuries and has undergone five surgeries; Kucera’s young daughter, who was riding unsecured in the back seat, underwent surgery for a severely broken leg. Kucera has been charged with felony DUI causing injury and felony child abuse and remains held on $340,000 bail.
According to KRCR, Kucera waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Butte County Superior Court on Sept. 24, 2026, effectively acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to take the case to trial; she is due back in court Oct. 14, 2026, to set a jury trial date. The outlet reported that Sgt. Alvies remains hospitalized while recovering from his injuries. The Butte County District Attorney’s Office, whose investigators happened to be leaving a nearby event and reached the crash scene within a minute, said a blood draw taken about three hours after the collision showed Kucera’s blood alcohol concentration at .14%. Kucera’s nine-year-old son, also unsecured in the vehicle, was treated and released the same morning.
