EASTHAMPTON — A police officer responding to a crash Wednesday afternoon ended up being in one after colliding with an SUV on Holyoke Street near Grove Street.
According to a post on the Easthampton Police Department’s Facebook page, an officer was responding to a crash at about 3:40 p.m. at the intersection of Holyoke and East streets with lights and sirens activated when another vehicle turned into the police cruiser’s path near Grove Street. The officer attempted to evade the second vehicle but the two cars collided, police stated.
Airbags were deployed and the second vehicle flipped over on its side. According to the report, the officer immediately exited his vehicle and assisted the driver of the SUV. Both drivers suffered minor injuries and were taken to Holyoke Medical Center, police said.
Tom Brown, of 2 Grove St., said that although he did not witness the accident, he heard a “big bang” and came out of his home to see what happened.
When he went outside, he saw the two vehicles on his front lawn, with the woman’s SUV on its side. He said the woman seemed to be OK.
“They put her on a stretcher, but she was just real wobbly. You get hit with an airbag and you’re going to know it,” he said.
According to the Facebook post, the accident is under investigation by the Easthampton Police Department’s Traffic Unit commander.
Emergency workers responded to both accidents. Easthampton Police did not provide any further information on either accident Wednesday evening.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.