BENTON HARBOR, MI : Sunday crash traps BH police officer on Sunday, July 9, 2017

A Benton Harbor police officer received cuts, scrapes and bruises Sunday morning when he hit an SUV while on his way to an assault in progress and was trapped in his vehicle, said Deputy Public Safety Director Michael Clark.
“We’re thankful our officer wasn’t hurt badly,” he said, adding that all questions about the investigation were being handled by the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department.
Lt. Steven Campbell of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department said the Benton Harbor officer and the SUV were both westbound on Britain Avenue when the officer tried passing the SUV on the left. At the same time, he said, the driver of the SUV started turning left onto Columbus Avenue.
After impact at 8:53 a.m., the patrol car hit a telephone pole and rolled over several times before ending up on its side in an open field, he said, adding that a large area was without power because of the accident. He said the officer called in the accident after it happened.
He said the Jaws of Life were used by officers from the Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety to get the officer out of the vehicle.
Campbell said the eight people in the SUV, a 2017 Ford Expedition, were not hurt.
“Benton Harbor police asked that the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department come in and do an accident reconstruction,” he said.
He said both vehicles were taken to the county’s secure lot, where their black boxes will be removed and examined.
A press release from the sheriff’s department states that the officer had his lights and siren activated when he tried to pass the SUV, which was being driven by a male from Watervliet. The SUV was occupied by another adult and six children.
The officer was alert and was taken by a Medic 1 ambulance to Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph for treatment, states the release.
The names of the officer and the driver of the SUV were not released. The accident remains under investigation.


Source :
Sunday crash traps BH police officer