Jersey City Officer Recovering After Police Cruiser Involved In Crash
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A Jersey City officer is recovering in the hospital following a crash involving his police cruiser and another vehicle overnight.
It happened around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Routes 1 and 9 and Duncan Avenue.
Sources tell CBS 2 the officer was attempting to pull over a vehicle whose driver refused to stop when another car collided with the cruiser.
Gene Jeffrey, the driver of the other car, was on his way to work at FedEx at the time of the crash.
"Anything I would have had to do, I would have done it," he told CBS2's Magdalena Doris. "But he was right there. All I had time to do was hit the brakes and put my hands up."
He said he didn't see lights or hear sirens until the police cruiser was already in the middle of the intersection.
"I had the green," he said. "I kind of understand he was in pursuit of someone, but I think he would take a little bit of caution coming through an intersection like that."
The sudden impact sent the squad car onto the median.
The officer was alert and awake as he was he was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher while wearing neck brace. He was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for his injuries.
Jeffery refused an ambulance at the scene, but said he is heading to the hospital Wednesday with a swollen hand and bruising along his rib cage.
It's not clear what happened to the car the officer was pursuing.
CBS2 reached out to Jersey City multiple times for information on what led to the crash, but has not yet heard back.
