VIDEO: 3 injured in police-involved crash in Olney
OLNEY (WPVI) -- Three people, including a police officer, were injured in a crash in the Olney section of Philadelphia.
A surveillance camera captured the moment a police cruiser squeezed between two cars and T-boned a Ford Expedition, sending it spinning through the intersection.
"The crash was louder than the sirens, I'll tell you that," said Danny Vargas, witness.
The accident happened around 7 p.m. Sunday at Front Street and Champlost Avenue.
The crash was so forceful it knocked down a street light and a fence, and left the cruiser's front end mangled.
Vargas says he ran to help.
"I approached right away. The officer, she seemed shaken up. She seemed like she was dizzy," said Vargas.
Philadelphia Police Capt. Scott Drissel says the officer assigned to the 35th District was responding to another officer's call for help, and had her sirens and lights on.
"She went through the intersection, tried to clear it, a car wouldn't stop for her and came in contact with her," said Drissel.
The officer and the two occupants of the Ford Expedition were taken to Einstein Medical Center. All are in stable condition.
"The last few months there's been five accidents," said Vargas.
Vargas says it's a dangerous intersection, and has even seen police crash there before.
"Usually officers have their sirens on when they approach the street, they slow down since it's a big intersection," said Vargas. "This time she didn't. She just went really fast."
"You pull up to the intersection, you clear the intersection, you make sure nobody's coming through," said Drissel when asked about police protocol in a situation like this. "It looks like she did do that."
From the movement of traffic, it appears the officer may have had a red light, but Drissel says accident investigators will make that determination - likely with the help of the surveillance video.
