Hit-And-Run Leaves 2 Undercover Philadelphia Cops Hurt
By Tim Jimenez and Trang Do
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A pair of crashes in North Philadelphia overnight lands a couple of officers in the hospital, and police are now wondering why a man would hop out of his car while it was still moving.
It started at two in the morning when police say two undercover officers were in an unmarked car on Broad at Brown Street, when a dark sedan slammed into the passenger side and then drove off. Police say the striking vehicle may have been a Ford Taurus and will have front-end damage.
Lights out at 15th & Parrish. Crash here in N Philly ended wild sequence of events. 1st crash left 2 cops hurt. pic.twitter.com/6Mk1OBRCBh
— Tim Jimenez (@TimJimenezKYW) April 27, 2016
Chief Inspector Scott Small says one officer now has a concussion.
"Lost consciousness, just for a few seconds."
The other complained of pain, and they are both hospitalized and in stable condition.
And then, Small says a 33-year-old man in a white SUV approached the crash scene and panicked.
The man reportedly told police he thought he saw a man waving a gun so he jumped out of his car and left it in drive. Seconds later, two other men jumped into the SUV and took off in it.
"I guess everyone would react differently and he claimed his initial reaction was fear and get out of the line of what might be gunfire," Wilczynski said. "Not necessarily directed at him, just get out of the line of fire."
The men drove the SUV the wrong way onto 15th street toward Parrish, colliding head-on with a car traveling the right way. They also hit a parked car and then abandoned the SUV in the middle of the street.
"It was a bizarre scene all the way around, that's going to take some investigating before we're get to the bottom of it," Wilczynski said.
The driver involved in that second head-on collision was not hurt. Medics took the two officers to Hahnemann Hospital. They have both been treated and released.
