RUN-INS WITH THE LAW: It always amazes me how many people crash their cars into police vehicles. For example, two officers were parked at a Shell gas station at 15th Street and Fowler Avenue in Tampa while investigating a report of a disturbance when their cruiser was hit by a van. The van had no damage, but the impact did shatter the front passenger headlight and turn signal of the cop car. Then there is the case of the officer driving around the "backside" of Tampa General Hospital when a man pulling out from between two buildings crashed into his vehicle. No one was injured in the crash, but both vehicles sustained a few hundred dollars in damage.
AUTO BILLIARDS: In this case, the cop car was just in the wrong place at the wrong moment. An officer had been traveling north on I-275 when he stopped to clear a traffic obstruction near the Ashley Drive off-ramp. The officer threw on his emergency lights and was preparing to get out of the car when a 2002 Toyota struck a 2004 Acura that had stopped to avoid the obstruction. The Acura was propelled forward … wait for it … right into the police cruiser. No one was injured in the crash, but the driver of the Toyota was cited for failure to use due care.
AND THE WINNER IS: The preceding accidents, while avoidable, are at least understandable. For some true recklessness and stupidity, I submit this next gentleman. The suspect in this case was driving his Chevy S-10 pickup through downtown Tampa just shy of midnight on Oct. 3 when he crashed "into the marble post near the ATM position at TPD headquarters." As you might imagine in a case when someone drives their car into a police station, officers were on the scene quickly. The suspect (who was drunk) added insult to injury when he "was unresponsive to commands to leave his vehicle and wrapped his arms around the steering wheel to avoid being taken out of the vehicle." The cops used one of their more persuasive arguments on the man, zapping him with a Taser until he exited the vehicle. The man was charged with DUI and reckless driving. The damage to police headquarters was estimated at $5,000.
From the files of the T.P.D. To comment on this story, click on the link below.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2006.