Euclid Officer, Crash Victim Recovering

EUCLID, Ohio – A Euclid police officer, working a traffic accident, became the victim of a second accident when a wayward driver crashed into his police cruiser. 

In all, three people were injured, and another officer narrowly escaped being seriously hurt.

The Euclid officer responded to a two vehicle accident on I-90 near East 260th Street Friday evening. He and a driver of the first accident were inside the police cruiser when a car crashed into them. Euclid Police Sgt. Mike Janson said the driver just rammed into the police cruiser. 

“She basically came up in the high speed lane, appeared to never have slowed down, and struck the back of the cruiser.

A 56-year-old Wickliffe woman was driving the car.  Sgt. Janson said it is not clear why she crashed into the cruiser. 

“It ended up striking the wall and both cars ended up perpendicular to the wall,” he said. 

The Euclid police officer and the man inside the cruiser were injured.  They were treated and released from the hospital. Sgt. Janson said the injuries to the female driver were more serious.

“The damage was severe to the 2004 Nissan that was driven by the female.  Severe damage. Damage to the accident car severe also,” he said.

Another officer was outside of the cruiser, assisting on the first accident.  Sgt. Janson said he saw the car coming at the cruiser and was able to get out of the way; otherwise he could have been seriously hurt. 

“Looked up saw a car that appeared to not be stopping and was in their lane.  And he jumped out of the way, just in time. So, he’s very lucky.”

Sgt. Janson said the accident is a reminder that there is a law in Ohio that requires motorists to move a lane away from public service vehicles, like police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. 

“As a police officer one of our fears is going on the freeway and working accidents. People need to slow down.  Slow down and move over for us,” he added.