SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 16, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A female police officer escaped serious injury late Friday afternoon when her patrol car was hit by another driver at the intersection of 39th Street and 700 South.
Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke said the officer was responding to a call and was trying to clear the intersection when the other car collided with her and then hit at least one more vehicle.
“I think there were three or four cars involved in this accident,” Lohrke said. “It’s still unclear who were all the players.”
The unidentified officer was transported to the hospital, as was the driver of the vehicle that struck the police car.
Lohrke said the officer has about 15 years’ experience on the force. He said he was told she is in fairly good condition, but “pretty shaken up.” He did not have information on the condition of the other driver.
Shawn Russell was the driver of a second car that was damaged in the incident. He told Gephardt Daily he was in the left-turn lane at 39th and 700 South.
“The officer stalled at the light for four or five seconds with the lights on, cautiously coming across the street,” he said.
Russell said he believes the officer had her lights and siren on and that the woman driving the other car didn’t seem to see the police car. “She didn’t seem to brake at all,” he said.
Russell said the accident looked like slow-motion as the car sideswiped the police car and then came toward the vehicle he was in.
“I was startled by how hard she hit me,” he said. Asked how he was feeling, Russell said his hand was “a little banged up, but I’ll live.”
The accident is under investigation, Lt. Lohrke said, adding, “We don’t investigate it ourselves when one of our own is involved; we put it to an outside agency.”
