DETROIT – Two Detroit police officers were hospitalized Saturday night after their cruiser was hit by a driver running a red light on Detroit’s east side.
The crash happened around 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Gratiot Avenue and Lappin Street.
Police say a black truck with two people inside ran the red light, hitting the police car and sending it crashing into a light pole.
“They’re very lucky,” said Jasmin Barmore, director of media relations for the Detroit Police Department. “As you can see from what was out here earlier, our scout car is pretty banged up. We’re grateful that no one suffered any life-threatening injuries, but especially our officers.”
Vanessa Bostic works at the furniture store Loyalty Empire, which is right across the street from where the crash happened.
“The impact – I mean you could hear it blocks down, that’s how hard the impact was,” Bostic said.
Bostic said she saw the crash from the front window of the store and ran across the street to help the officers out of their car.
“The officer in the passenger side, he was knocked out due to the impact,” Bostic said. “The driver officer - he had a gash on the side of his head. He was a little bit dizzy, but he was able to walk.”
Barmore said one of the officers was transported to the hospital by police and another was taken by EMS.
She said one of the people in the truck was also transported to the hospital by EMS and the other declined to be transported.
An investigation is now underway to determine if the driver of the truck will face any charges.