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Connecticut police released dashcam footage that shows an ATV rider crashing into the windshield of a police cruiser in New Haven, Connecticut.
According to WSFA, police arrived to “address complaints of people illegally operating dirt bikes and ATVs in the city.”
The incident happened Sunday afternoon on Farnam Drive.
Hartford Courant reports:
New Haven officers who were assigned to a dirtbike/ATV detail to address ongoing complaints of riders driving illegally and recklessly in the city responded to the area of East Rock Park on Sunday around 3:40 p.m. on the reports of a group congregating there, according to the New Haven Police Department.
Officers used Farnam Drive, which has been closed to all vehicular traffic since 2020, to access the park. While the officers were driving up the road, they saw a large number of pedestrians, including families with children, in the area and noticed an ATV driving down the road at a high rate of speed toward the pedestrians, police said.
In the footage, the police cruiser cuts off the ATV rider, causing him to crash into the windshield.
“New Haven, CT police release dash cam footage showing their police cruiser cutting off an ATV rider. Police were called after they received reports of ATV and dirt bike riders at East Rock Park. When one of the officers noticed an ATV rider coming down the road, he angled his car in front of the man causing him to crash into the car. After receiving backlash online, the police issued a statement, defending the officer’s action,” Collin Rugg wrote.
“The officers slowed the cruiser and angled it to protect the families and pedestrians they had just passed, while providing a point of egress to the side of them for the oncoming ATV to pass the cruiser,” the police said, according to Rugg.
“As the cruiser was slowing down, the operator lost control of his ATV, and struck the front passenger side window of the cruiser,” the statement continued.
“The man on the ATV was taken to the hospital with serious injuries,” Rugg noted.
WATCH:
NEW: New Haven, CT police release dash cam footage showing their police cruiser cutting off an ATV rider.
Police were called after they received reports of ATV and dirt bike riders at East Rock Park.
When one of the officers noticed an ATV rider coming down the road, he angled… pic.twitter.com/vh8wXiy94P
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 2, 2024
Per WSFA:
Residents in New Haven said dirt bikes are a common sight on the path that they’re not supposed to be on.
“It’s obvious that they’re going too fast and they shouldn’t be on the pedestrian roads in the first place,” Olivia Brinks, of New Haven, said.
New Haven Chief of Police Karl Jacobson released a statement after the incident.
“This is an unfortunate and stark reminder of the extreme dangers of illegal ATV and dirt bike riding on city streets, both for pedestrians and the operators of the vehicles themselves. Our police officers engaged in a potentially life-saving maneuver on behalf of this family that was in harm’s way. While we’re glad the family was protected from harm, what happened to the driver is tragic, and we hope for his complete and speedy recovery and we urge the public not to engage in this type of activity,” Jacobson stated.
The video has received backlash on social media, but Jacobson said the cruiser’s lights were on and the officers handled the situation the right way.
“They hear an ATV coming in their direction, they move over to the left side as a way to shield the people behind them,” Jacobson added. “The officer wasn’t traveling at any speed when the incident happened and then the officer also gave an area of egress, meaning they could’ve gotten around the police car.”
Jacobson said there haven’t been many patrols in that area in the past, but he expects that to change going forward.
“Jacobson said the ATV driver will be charged in the incident, but he added that he hopes he makes a full recovery,” WSFA noted.
