Greenwich Cop on DUI Patrol Injured When Driver Hits Police SUV

A Greenwich Police officer assigned to the holiday weekend to the driving under the influence enforcement detail was injured after a driver crashed into a police SUV that was parked in the Byram neighborhood looking for impaired drivers, according to police.

The officer was parked in an unmarked 2014 Ford Explorer near 294 Delavan Ave., between Mead and New Lebanon avenues about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 29 when the driver of a 1999 Honda crashed into the left rear corner of the police vehicle, according to a police report. This is the second crash involving one of the department’s new SUVs.

Police radar clocked the driver operating at 38 mph in a 25 mph zone when the crash occurred, according to the report.

The driver of the Honda was identified as Kristen N. Vacca, 21, of North East, MD, told police “she was driving to meet a friend when she looked down at her phone to obtain GPS directions” when the crash occurred, according to the report. After failing field sobriety tests, Vacca was charged with driving under the influence, unsafe movement and traveling too fast. She was released after posting $250 bond and issued a Dec. 15 date to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford, according to police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray.

The officer, who was not identified, suffered non-life threatening injuries and was treated and released from Greenwich Hospital, according to the report.

“Greenwich PD takes DUI very seriously. Not too long ago the chief of police was involved in an accident involving a DUI driver,” Gray said. “You look at the big picture, there are a lot of risks for an officers on a Saturday night doing patrol work and conducting investigations.”

The Nov. 29 crash is the second involving Honda’s slamming into one of the department’s new Ford Explorers. In February, Police Chief James Heavey escaped serious injury when his vehicle was struck by an alleged drunk driver of a 1997 Honda who drove through the I-95 Exit 3 ramp when the chief had the right of way. Heavey had taken delivery of his SUV just two days before the crash.

Photo credit: Barbara Heins.

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