4 N.Y. Police Officers Injured when Cruisers Collide while Responding to Call
By Steve Hughes
Source Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
ALBANY, NY — Four Albany police officers were injured when two Albany police SUVs collided at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Quail Street just before 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Police Chief Eric Hawkins delivered a briefing on the incident about two hours later and said that while all four officers suffered head trauma — two of them seriously — the injuries were not considered life-threatening. One officer also sustained severe leg injuries, Hawkins said.
Speaking outside Albany Medical Center Hospital just a few blocks from the scene, Hawkins said the two units were responding to the same call for backup to a domestic incident near Slingerland Street and Second Avenue when they collided. He said he did not know if either unit had its siren on at the time.
The officers called for backup to deal with a "resistive suspect," Hawkins said. Officers made that call at around 3:40 p.m. and "(the units) ultimately crashed into each other at approximately 3:55 p.m.," Hawkins said.
Photos posted by Common Council member Owusu Anane show a marked police vehicle with extensive front-end damage crashed into a light pole on the southeast corner of the intersection; a dark SUV with similarly serious damage was in the street a few yards east in front of Church of God of Prophecy.
The collision occurred at the same intersection where in August 2009 a police cruiser responding to a call for assistance slammed into a car with two passengers, killing 21-year-old Jamar McGill. That fatality resulted in a $250,000 settlement with the dead man's family.
Meanwhile, police said two officers who were at the scene of the domestic incident Wednesday were exposed to powder cocaine while attempting to take the suspect into custody. They were evaluated at Samaritan Hospital, Albany Memorial campus.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in that incident and charged with various drug crimes.
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