AVENTURA, Fla. (WSVN) — Dashcam video from early February shows a driver crashing into the back of an Aventura Police cruiser, causing the car to flip over.
“It was a very, very loud sound,” said Aventura Police Sgt. Charles Caralantone, “and when we turned around, we were quite surprised to see that the car was on its roof.”
Dashcam video from another patrol car captured the crash, which happened Feb. 9.
“Officers were on scene helping a female at the bus stop who was passed out, she was having a medical issue,” said Aventura Police Sgt. Chris Goranitis, “and you can see where there’s a motorist that basically hit the rear of one of our police vehicles and then overturned right in the middle of Biscayne Boulevard.”
Caralantone was about 15 feet from his patrol car at the time of the crash.
“The officers were very close by, and they are very lucky, as are the pedestrians and the female,” said Goranitis. “Anybody in that area is very lucky ’cause you can see, you know, the way that vehicle flipped over, it could’ve killed anyone at any time.”
“I was concerned about my safety and that of my officer who was with me and also the driver of the other vehicle — all he got is superficial injuries, which I was very happy about,” said Caralantone.
No serious injuries were reported.
“The job of a police officer is inherently dangerous,” said Caralantone, “and it becomes that much more dangerous when we do the most benign things, taking traffic stops and helping people on the roadway.”
Police said the crash shows the importance of moving over when you see police cars pulled over on the side of the road.
“Florida’s Move Over Law is pretty clear,” said Goranitis, “and it says when you see a police vehicle or an emergency vehicle or a road ranger on the side of the road, that you are to slow down at least 20 miles per hour below the speed limit or down to five miles per hour — whichever applies.”
7Skyforce HD was over the scene shortly after the crash occurred.
“Just in a split second, everything can change like that,” said Caralantone, “so we’re just very, very fortunate that it turned out as well as it did.”
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