Hit-and-run wreck leaves a $50k police car out of commission
Law enforcement officers (LEOs) respond to hit-and-run incidents every day. Tragically, some drivers will smash into parked cars or other motorists and flee rather than deal with the implications of a crash. However, you don’t often hear about bad drivers hitting police cars and taking off. Still, for one Portland Police Bureau sergeant, his damaged police car is a reminder of the impact of a hit-and-run crash.
A Portland police car was the victim of a hit-and-run crash, leaving a sergeant with a badly damaged Ford Police Interceptor
A hit-and-run crash is a frightening prospect. Boom. You get rear-ended by a poor driver. That happens. You would expect to get a police report and go through your insurance to handle the situation. However, to your horror, the driver cuts the wheel and leaves you in your inoperable car.
Tragically, it happens from time to time. But you don’t expect to see it happen to a police officer. That is, however, exactly what happened to one sergeant with the Portland Police Bureau. As the officer was at a red light, a driver in a Ford F-Series pickup truck slammed into his Ford Police Interceptor, per Oregon Live.
The truck driver also damaged a Mazda minivan in the crash. However, the hit-and-run driver fled the scene, leaving the police sergeant in the damaged Ford SUV. Fortunately, the police sergeant and the Mazda driver weren’t seriously injured in the event.
Unfortunately for the less-than-stellar driver, the state of Oregon takes hit-and-run accidents seriously. According to Bankrate, an incident with no injuries is a Class A misdemeanor. Offenders can expect fines of up to $5,000 and up to a year in prison. However, should the event result in injuries, it becomes a Class C felony.
Understandably, the felony charges could carry up to $125,000 in fines and five years in jail.
However, despite finding the truck, police are still looking for the suspect. As you might imagine, slamming into a fully loaded Ford Interceptor SUV will do significant damage to nearly any kind of vehicle. The suspect reportedly stopped the truck after discovering it was too damaged to continue driving. He then took off on foot.
