UPDATE: The police officer involved in a crash in Woodbridge on Tuesday was headed to help someone.
The officer driving the cruiser had its lights and siren activated and was responding to a call when it collided with another vehicle about 5 p.m., at Rosedale Court and U.S. 1, in front of the Prince William Plaza shopping center, a police spokesman said.
The two cars collided when the unidentified driver of the second car was making a left turn from southbound U.S. 1 onto Rosedale Court. The police officer, who was travelling northbound on U.S. 1, saw the turning car and tried to maneuver around it, police said.
But it didn’t work and the officer slammed into the tuning car, police said.
The officer was taken to a local hospital for injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.
His cruiser, seen on a flatbed truck travelling on Prince William Parkway following the crash, was mangled beyond repair and its doors removed.
The second driver was flown to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Police have not filed charges in the crash and say it’s still under investigation.
Just after the crash happened, the officer could be heard on a police scanner radioing for emergency crews to come and help him and the driver of the other car, the police cruiser’s siren still blaring in the background.
The crash caused major delays on both northbound and southbound U.S. 1, as traffic was diverted from the area immediately following the crash.
As delays built, officers worked to reopen the flow of southbound traffic, according to initial reports.
The crash took at least an hour and half to clear.
