Police chase results in crash

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Two cars were involved in one nasty collision, and one of the victims is a Miami-Dade officer.

A Miami-Dade Police cruiser and a civilian's vehicle both spun around and crashed after a police chase went bad, Tuesday morning. "It was a crash as loud as three blocks, at least," said a witness.

The midday crash alarmed the entire neighborhood. "All I heard was a crash," said Tina Chester.

What the neighbors heard was the sound of a Miami-Dade Police cruiser T-boning a white Nissan at the corner of Northwest Second Court and 69th Street. The mangled cars slid across the intersection and came to rest on the sidewalk and yard of a corner house.

Witnesses thought it was too late for the driver of the Nissan and began to help the officer. "The victim in the white car was unconscious," said a witness. "He was bleeding out."

"The officer just bruised his hand and messed up his arm," said Chester. "His head was kind of banged up a little bit."

Both men were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Miami-Dade Police said they are both in stable condition.

Miami-Dade Police claimed their officer was working a traffic stop of a possible police impersonator when the officer crashed into the innocent driver.

Neighbors told the story differently. A man who didn't want to be identified said he was washing his car at the time. "They came down the street," said a witness, "one of them at least 50-miles-per-hour, without sirens, pursuing the car. They did not stop at the stop sign, they went straight ahead."

The man said another unmarked police car was also in pursuit and just kept going. "The other one did not stop," said the man. "He didn't even stop to see how his partner was. He just kept going."

Questioning the alleged police tactics, the man said innocent victims could have paid the price. "Why would they be in pursuit in a residential area without sirens?" said the man. "They were going 50 miles-an-hour, they know they're chasing a car. The least they could do was put on sirens coz if there's somebody crossing that stop sign or a child running across the street, they would've taken them too."

Police are still investigating the accident.

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