Separate collisions less than 24 hours apart damage St. George Police vehicles

ST. GEORGE — Two separate crashes reported within hours of each other left two St. George Police patrol vehicles damaged, one significantly, after both were struck at two intersections on St. George Boulevard within a 24-hour period last week.

Damage is visible on the Lincoln four-door sedan involved in T-bone crash at the intersection of St. George Boulevard and North 1000 East in St. George, Utah, June 2, 2023 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

The second crash was reported early Friday morning. Officers responded to the intersection of North 1000 East and St. George Boulevard on a two-vehicle crash involving a green Lincoln four-door sedan and a St. George Police patrol vehicle.

Sgt. Lucas Alfred with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office told St. George News that neither driver reported any injuries when emergency personnel arrived at the scene.

What they did find was a heavily damaged Lincoln partially blocking the intersection facing north in the southbound lane of 1000 East, while the patrol vehicle came to rest near the median.

Since the crash involved a police officer, an outside agency was called to conduct the investigation, which is standard. In this case, it was the Washington County Sheriff’s Office that responded to handle the investigation. Due to the severity of the collision, Alfred said the department’s accident reconstruction team was also called in to assist.

Video footage and other evidence collected at the scene indicated that at the time of the crash, Alfred said, the Lincoln was heading west along the Interstate 15 overpass towards downtown St. George, just as the police officer was heading north along 1000 East.

The Lincoln entered the intersection on a red traffic light, just as the patrol unit continued through the intersection heading north on a green light, which is when the Lincoln struck the passenger’s side of the patrol vehicle.

The force of the impact created a loud enough noise that it caught the attention of several bystanders who proceeded into the intersection to check on the two drivers. Airbags deployed in both vehicles, Alfred said.

An unmarked St. George Police patrol vehicle was struck by a scooter near the intersection of St. George Boulevard and North 200 East in St. George, Utah, June 1, 2023 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the crash, and both vehicles were equipped with airbags that deployed upon impact, just as they are designed to. Alfred said these factors were likely the reasons there were no serious injuries.

He added that while the investigation is ongoing, evidence suggests the Lincoln driver ran a red light.

Less than 24 hours earlier, emergency personnel were called out to a crash a few blocks away involving a scooter and an unmarked St. George Police patrol unit. This incident happened near the intersection of St. George Boulevard and North 200 East shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday.

No injuries were reported in the crash that left both vehicles, including a brand new unmarked police patrol truck, damaged. This incident was turned over to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for investigation.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the St. George Fire Department, Gold Cross Ambulance and Utah Department of Transportation’s Incident Management Team responded to assist at the scenes.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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