GREENFIELD, IN : Greenfield Police cruiser involved in intersection crash at the intersection of Federal and Silver streets on Wednesday, 29th January, 2020

A Greenfield Police officer and a civilian were taken to the hospital Wednesday morning following a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Federal and Silver streets.

Lt. Joseph Burge was behind a pick-up truck at a red light on Federal Street shortly before 11:30 a.m., when the truck took a legal right turn onto Silver Street, according to Chief Robert Haigh Jr. The chief said an investigation revealed Burge, who was attempting to continue forward to reach Bernardston Road, assumed the truck’s turn meant he had a green light, and Burge’s cruiser rolled into the intersection, where it collided with a 2004 Toyota Sienna LE minivan traveling west on Silver Street.

Burge and the minivan’s driver, an unidentified woman, were taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center with minor injuries. Haigh said both had been released by 5 p.m. Burge was wearing a neck brace when loaded into an ambulance, and the woman was talking on a cellphone while on a stretcher.

The cruiser came to a rest with its damaged front end in a bush and its body hovering a sidewalk next to AutoZone. The minivan had a hanging front bumper and sat with its front end halfway over a crosswalk. Two Byrne Towing trucks remove the damaged vehicles. Meanwhile, Sgt. Todd Dodge was seen marking spots in the road and taking photographs.

Haigh said he won’t know the cruiser’s fate until a Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association adjuster inspects the damage.

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