Chief: Officer in Sunday Night Crash is OK

Photos: Chris Palmer (Twitter: @ChrisPalmer1216)

The Cranston police officer whose cruiser was struck by another vehicle while en route to an unrelated accident Sunday night was not seriously hurt and was examined at the hospital as a precaution, said Cranston Police Chief Col. Michael J. Winquist Jr.

Winquist said that at around 11:17 p.m., the officer was responding to a crash elsewhere in the city and was struck by a pickup truck while driving through the intersection of Park and Warwick Avenues.

A passenger in the truck that struck the Cranston cruiser complained of neck and back pain but they were not seriously hurt either, Winquist said. The driver passed a field sobriety test at the scene and was found not to be under the influence.

A second passenger, however, ”appeared to be intoxicated and became belligerent” and was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for “impeding the investigation,” Winquist said.

That man is identified as Allyn McCaul, 51, of 109 Fourth Ave., Warwick.

McCaul was issued a summons and released at the scene with a future court date.

Winquist said the officer slowed down as he approached the intersection and the cruiser’s lights were activated and the siren was on when the crash happened.

The cruiser was struck in the front driver’s side. Both vehicles were significantly damaged.

That same night, Winquist said Cranston officers were kept busy with an accident on Scituate Avenue at Western Hills Lane involving a car into a telephone pole.

In that crash, the driver was not injured but wires came down on Scituate Avenue and National Grid was dispatched to make repairs.

“It was a busy night overall,” Winquist said.

Meanwhile the chief said he’s feeling better after several weeks of a particularly bad case of influenza, followed by a bout of pneumonia. The illnesses put him out of commission for days and on Monday evening, his voice was still hoarse.

“It wasn’t pretty,” the chief said.