FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A good Samaritan shared his account of the moments he helped a Fort Lauderdale Police officer who suffered minor injuries after he was involved in a crash that caused his cruiser to flip on its side and led to hours-long lane closures.
7Skyforce hovered above the scene of the three-vehicle crash at the intersection of West Sunrise Boulevard and Northwest 16th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, at around 4:35 p.m. on Thursday.
Speaking with 7News hours later, Michael said he heard a loud noise.
“I couldn’t believe it. I heard it, it was, like, a huge bang,” he said.
According to investigators, several officers were responding to an emergency call for service, with their lights and sirens on, when one of them was involved in the crash.
The officer’s marked cruiser appears to have been T-boned by a white SUV, causing the cruiser to overturn. When the cruiser ended up on its side, it appeared to hit a gray sedan that was stopped at the light.
Michael said he was working nearby when he heard the collision.
“Oh, my God, a cop [cruiser] was turned on its side,” he said.
Michael joined others who came over to do what they could to help the officer.
“We ran over to the police car, we checked to see if he was OK, we opened up the door, we pulled him out,” he said.
Paramedics with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue were seen checking out the occupants who were inside the sedan.
“The one lady, she was shaking pretty bad, the one in the gray car,” said Michael. “I didn’t catch her name, but she said she was OK, and we brought them some water.”
The woman was placed in the back of the rescue truck and taken away; she was conscious and alert.
The officer was also transported to an area hospital as a precaution. He is expected to be OK.
Crews unloaded the gear from the injured officer’s cruiser, uprighted the vehicle and towed it off the roadway.
As for Michael, he said he was just happy to be in the right place, at the right time.
“They’re always there for us, so we should be there for him, you know, if we can,” he said.
Officers shut down all but one eastbound lanes of Sunrise Boulevard, as well as a portion of Northwest 16th Avenue, while they investigated. The roadways have since reopened to traffic.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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