William Curry, 84, of Anniston was listed in critical but stable condition after the accident, said Anniston police Officer Roy Bennett, the accident investigator.
Officer Tony Gassaway, the driver of the patrol car, was treated for minor injuries at Regional Medical Center and released. Janet Newkirk, 69, of Oxford was the driver of the third vehicle, a blue Kia. She was not injured, police said.
All three drivers were alone in their vehicles when the crash occurred just before 9 a.m. Friday, police said.
The crash occurred right after Curry, driving a Chevrolet Malibu from east to west on Sixth Street, crossed the northbound lanes of Quintard. Curry then entered the southbound lanes and Gassaway’s patrol car struck the Chevrolet in the outside southbound lane, Bennett said.
The department on Friday was working on an accident report, which will include official findings and will take several business days to complete.
According to Capt. Shane Denham, another officer at the scene, it appeared the impact of the two cars caused the patrol car to crash into the Kia, which was stopped in the eastbound lane of Sixth Street, waiting to cross Quintard. The patrol car overturned and came to a rest against the street sign at Sixth and Quintard.
At the same time, the Malibu spun on the pavement, jumped the curb and came to a rest on the right-of-way, Denham said. Curry was found in the passenger side of his car, which was crushed in the collision.
Bennett said it appears Curry pulled out in front of the officer.
The patrol car’s windows were shattered, broken parts of the vehicle were scattered on the pavement, the car’s hood was peeled back and the battery had tumbled out of the engine compartment onto the sidewalk.
Officers diverted southbound traffic from Quintard onto Seventh Street, causing delays through the mid-morning hours.
When the wreck occurred, Officer Gassaway called for help, alerting the officers. About 15 emergency responders, most of them police, converged on the scene.
“The officer got on the phone and just started asking for help,” Denham said. “It scared us to death – we didn’t know what happened.”
Star staff writer Laura Johnson: 256-235-3544.
