On Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 6:15a.m. a Central Precinct officer responded to a report of a single car crash on I-84 eastbound near Northeast 33rd Avenue. At 6:29a.m., the officer arrived and located a silver sedan in the right lane that appeared to have crashed into the wall. The driver of the crashed car reportedly walked away and was not immediately located.Â
At 6:36a.m., the officer ordered an expedited tow to remove the blocking vehicle from the lanes of travel. At 6:39a.m., the officer radioed that his police vehicle had been struck from behind, and other vehicles were involved. Paramedics and other officers responded.
The officer and a passenger in one of the other involved vehicles were transported to the hospital by ambulances. Their injuries were non-life threatening and they were not entered into the regional trauma system.
The investigation suggests the fully marked and equipped Ford Interceptor Utility police vehicle’s overhead and rear-facing emergency lights were activated and was blocking the outside (right) lane. A four-door sedan was driving at freeway speed when the driver began emergency braking, lost control, spun into the wall, then continued spinning and hit the patrol car facing forward. Three other vehicles crashed in secondary collisions trying to avoid the spinning sedan. At this point no citations have been issued and no arrests have been made.
The disabled vehicles were towed and the freeway reopened fully at 8:30a.m. The officer was treated and released from the hospital.
