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StumbleLAW ENFORCEMENT:
Patrol car collides with vehicle on Flamingo
Two officers, driver suffer minor injuries in fourth collision this month
Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun
A Metro Police cruiser was involved in an accident with a Lexus sedan while responding to a robbery call Saturday on West Flamingo Road near the 215 Beltway. Two police officers and the driver of the Lexus were taken to University Medical Center with minor injuries.
Published Saturday, May 30, 2009 | 2:45 p.m.
Updated Saturday, May 30, 2009 | 6:24 p.m.
Officer-involved collision
Two Metro Police officers and a 54-year-old Las Vegas woman were hospitalized today after a collision near the 215 Beltway and Flamingo Road.
The three injured in the crash were taken to University Medical Center with minor injuries, Lt. Dan McGrath said.
The officers, ages 39 and 26, were eastbound in a black and white police cruiser at about 11:30 a.m. responding to a bank robbery call on Flamingo Road when the cruiser, a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, collided with the woman’s northbound black 2008 Lexus IS250. The Lexus was exiting the highway at the Beltway off-ramp to go west onto Flamingo, McGrath said.
The left-front of the police cruiser struck the side of the Lexus, police said. The driver of the Lexus was identified as Denise Schnitzer; the two officers weren't being identified Saturday.
Authorities haven’t determined if the police cruiser's flashing lights and siren were on at the time of the crash, McGrath said.
The front of the police cruiser was smashed with most of the damage on the vehicle's left side. Eastbound traffic on Flamingo Road was restricted so crews could tow the two vehicles and clean the area. Traffic investigators began to reopen the road at about 3:15 p.m.
This is the fourth officer-involved collision this month in the Las Vegas Valley.
The last crash occurred Monday when a patrol officer and the drivers of three other vehicles suffered minor injuries after the officer ran a red light at the intersection of Twain Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard, police said.
Eyewitnesses told investigating officers that the Metro Police patrol car was not operating flashing lights or sirens.
Two days before that, on May 23, a Metro Police officer and a Las Vegas woman suffered minor injuries in a two-vehicle crash after a police cruiser entered an intersection on a red light, traffic investigators said. That crash occurred at Ann Road and Jones Boulevard in the northwest valley.
In the most serious crash, Officer James Manor, 28, died after his police cruiser collided with a red pickup truck driven by 45-year-old Calvin Darling in the early morning of May 7. The officer was heading to a domestic violence call at the time.
Manor was driving at 109 mph without his lights or siren activated, and collided with the pickup truck at 90 mph, Sheriff Doug Gillespie has said.
All of the collisions involving police officers are under review by a new committee formed by the sheriff after Manor's death.
Sun reporter Jinae West contributed to this report.
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Well Sheriff?
Come on now... you don't have all the facts. All we have is that the citizen was coming down the off-ramp. Did she have the right away? Did she run a red light? Or, were the cops just being reckless.
Wait for ALL the facts. It's frustrating when the actual facts are left out of a story. Obviously if she was coming down the off-ramp, either her or the police had the green light, not both. Who had the green light? That's all I want to know.
And if the police had their lights and sirens on, why didn't she give them the right away?
I know.. all of you will bitch and moan and say the cops "never use their lights and sirens", but I have been around so many Metro officers while driving that use their lights & sirens and still yield at the intersections. Must be because we have the "good cops" on our side of town.
Almost all police cruiser-civilian collisions happen when the cruiser enters an intersection against the light.
Sounds like this woman had the green light and was turning right off the off-ramp.
This weak Sheriff needs to fall on his sword. He's making the department look bad. He has zero chance of being re-elected.
Oh, lighten up.
This is so out of control!
There are a lot of crazy accidents ask rumrunner, he crashed when he worked for Lee Iacocca, now look chrysler is bankrupt. Maybe the people of the city should call and speak with a supervisor when they see cops speeding to verify if they are going to a call.
This smells of more police carelessness. Four times in one month is no accident (no pun intended). These incidents are an indication that our police officers are taking unnecessary chances.
Sure, we can wait for the facts. Once the facts come out, I'll either apologize, or pile it on.
S711
I think I will wait for the all the facts-not like some of you who are ready to point fingers. The police do a job that alot of us would not even think of doing and if you needed help or your spouse or child you would want them there fast. Let's all be thankful that injuries have been minor and let the police figure it out.
Memo to LVMPD cops:
You are required to obey ALL traffic laws when you are not responding Code 3 with lights and sirens. When you are responding Code 3, you are still required to proceed with due diligence, within a reasonable speed, cautious at all intersections, and with public safety always in mind. When you are not responding Code 3, you are NOT allowed to drive over the posted speed limit and you are NOT allowed to run red lights and stop signs.
If you are responding to an emergency situation such as a home invasion, robbery, etc., you most likely will not get there in time to prevent a crime regardless of how fast you travel. By the time you get there, the perp will probably already be gone. You will then be in clean up and report mode.
Lose the macho cowboy hero attitude. Save your own life and the lives of the public. They make your job and paycheck possible. Do not harm the hand that feeds you. Drive safely, always.
Let the Police bashing begin.....another, "intentional" accident. I'm sure the general public has Metro at fault already, facts unknown, but you know the "black and white" have to be at fault (lol), After all, they're supposed to be perfect!
First, let's hope everyone is ok!
Second, let's understand emergency driving is dangerous by default and do not judge without considering that.
Third, Metro cannot continue this dismal record on accidents without accepting they have a major systemic problem. Many PD's/SO's had this problem in the 80's and mid 90's before they finally got with it and began training cops how to drive SMART! It seems the Sherriff and training division has dropped the ball here and Metro is living a decade behind the rest of modern law enforcement.
Rookie cops hit the lights and siren and that alone can increase vehicle speed by 10 MPG just by adrenaline, noise and lack of experience. Trying to covertly get to the scene - and not announce your pending arrival by the blaring emergency equipment - is a long taught tactic but one of significant risk.
The balance is in between...if you drive fast without the emergency equipment you assume liability every time -without exception!!! If you drive so fast to put the people in harm's way, you also OWN the liability...Not to mention,these are LIVES of innocent citizenry who DO NOT deserve to DIE so a purse, bag of cash or stoeln car can be recovered.
This Gillespie Dude is about a THREE STRIKES as you can get on this issue.
They need to put "How am I driving?" stickers on all police vehicles.
Well said doubledown_deadender!
S711
I just heard the driver of the car that smashed into the metro car was texting...go figure! They completed a written statement and an interview!
at least they were honest about it.
On the lighter side, we'll sell two more vehicles in the US this year.
Well folks hate to tell u this but when they pass me and the wife at durango and flamingo, they had lights and sirens on. LOL, maybe they turned them off b4 they got 2 the 215.
I am thinking they want new vehicles.. Never was fond of the Crown Vic, bet they aren't either.. I sure loved the Lincoln Town Car though..
If that woman was texting, she was a driving time bomb!!! I am so sick of that!!! If you're going to talk on your cell when driving at LEAST use a bluetooth. Texting ... never when driving, that is NUTS!
I find it hard to believe that people are still texting while driving! Not to sound naive, but we've all seen the deadly consequences of it. I'll believe that when I see it confirmed.
yep its terrible they should make a device that inhibits texting while the car is on, no need for it. It was an accident but the real shame is the loss of the eye that the driver had, its so sad. Please everyone be careful out there.
Red lights and siren on an emergency vehicle "allows" is to proceed through a controlled intersection "when safe". It does not give wild abandon right of way to police vehicles.
The duty remains on the officer to take the safety of the other vehicles on the road into consideration. This department is just not under control
Cops in this town act like a bunch of wild west outlaws
Cowboy mentality with a shoot-em-up attitude
And their moto is: Do as I say, not as I do
"Never trust Government, and Cops are not your friend"
Hey Spence..... I agree with you. Seems like there are plenty of good cops and they must be on my side of town too. If you look at the porportion of Metro invovled accidents compared with the number of Metro vehicles on the road at any given time, I'm pretty sure that percentage will be extremely low. Even with this fact, I'm sure there will be people who will still bash Metro.
Why is it that I'm not surprised by this article?
>>>> PRICELESS !!!!
One of my roomates worked at walt disney they use golf carts ang segways to patrol, maybe this would help save money, pollution, and be quieter for a ninja like approach. maybe metro ahould use those? maybe we use use other police methods or even cameras or id chips. i felt bad about the interview with that driver though, at least the eye patch will only be four 3 weeks then they can get a glass eye.
Is it true that Gillespie has shares of stock in an auto insurance company?
Metro is out of control. As usual they will try and blame the little guy.
Wolfdog is kinda right, but not for that reason. The officer and judge may see each other almost daily, they MUST work together to put the bad guys away. That kind of relationship creates the appearance so something sinister, but I doubt it's intended. Still, I don't think some of us understand. I don't.
To protect us against an ever increasingly dangerous world the police must take ever more drastic measures.
If YOU were the victim you would want the police there as fast as possible. YOU would want the police to do everything possible.
Pursuant to this I have noticed police taking the concept "Ownership" into their operations. This concept is really a good way to impart or empower people to solve problems and is used in many businesses to achieve a responsive empathetic workforce.
The concept may be proving to be a poor one for law enforcement. The police are not "out of control" they have just been trained to take ownership of the issue. Well trained to do so I'm sure.
To OWN the crime scene or OWN the path to it is a logical extension of this good training, problem is, public areas can't be owned like that, even by people with uniforms and guns.
Maybe we should go back to "To Protect and To Serve" and just arrive at the scene a teeny weenie bit later.
Something to think about.....
Why don't we hear about accidents involving Fire Trucks? or Ambulances?
Don't those people rush through traffic at high speeds to help save lives too?
Could it be because they are more careful? Could it be that their ego doesn't get in the way of duty?
hmmm....
S711
HI HO, HI HO, its off to the crime scene we go, if we make there in one piece nobody will know..
HI HO, HI HO, Jimmey Cricket! another car in our way? Why we are METRO, let's give them a ticket, and call the Union LAWyer! After all we are all HERO's!
How many of these metro boobs are filing worker's comp cases for accidents they cause??
Where's the sheriff? off chasing Robin Hood?
Yeah, this whole trend is getting a lil' outta hand. Also, 2 cop cars were just strolling along on my side of town in the morning last week - one came out from the dirt lot next to the road. Both were travelling south while I was travelling north. Our lights were red and the second cop car pulled up behind another car in the left turn lane with it's sirens flashing. When my north light changed to a green status, I held off on travelling because I was afraid - with the sirens blaring, I thought there was an emergency and the cop needed to get into the intersection, but the cop didn't look at all to be on a journey. Our cops are scary, I'm thinking I might need to move to Compton where I already know what the cops will do to me.
Bad boys , bad boys -what'cha gonna do . . . what'cha gonna do when they crash into you......
-[CUT]-
''[Cops is filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement... All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law]''
Maybe Mario Andretti should take over the reigns for Clark County Sheriff... I remember the commercials on TV when he said ''there is no such thing as an accident.''
So...when and where will the first inaugural Las Vegas Metro demolition derby charity event take place ?
The cops here are idiots and so are the people saying wait for the facts. Nobody wanted to wait for the facts when the officer driving like a maniac got killed, everyone bashed the drunk driver! and guess what the facts showed he was'nt drunk the cop was an idiot and hit an innocent driver and then again and again and again> Cops are not above the law they chose the jobs there in most probably with good intentions but few stay that way. It's always that poor officer but what about the poor civilian they did not choose to risk there life and dont get all the rewards the cops do.
Attention COPS change your attitude we are
your employer you serve us the public. Is it nessesary to treat someone who ran a stop sign
the same as a rapist? If your so scared doing your job that you have to treat everyone you pull over like crap then get another job.
PS my best friend for 30 yrs. is a cop and I do know what goes on.
The Law needs to be changed to read that ANY emergency vehicle must have Lights on if going over 5 MPH over the speed limit. And lights and Siren if going over 10 MPH. as well as no more than 1.5 times Posted speed on Surface Streets/highways. And no more than 2 times posted on Freeways. GET THIS FIXED SAVE LIVES... 109 on a surface street Lights and Siren or not is UN-Acceptable.
Fire and medical vehicles always slow down when approaching an intersection, even when they have the right of way, precisely because they know that other drivers probably can not hear the siren and won't notice flashing lights in the daytime. Metro, on the other hand, will go through an intersection at full speed without regard to the safety of others. This practice MUST stop immediately!
Just as having a gun does not make you invincible, driving a police car does not mean that other drivers are aware of your presence.
What is more disturbing is that Metro obviously has no regard for the safety of the public in general when responding to a call. This is a level of arrogance that should not and can not be tolerated in public servants. I suspect that many of these officers would fail a reasonable psych exam given by someone not connected to law enforcement.
METRO POLICE, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US???
People of the public take your own advice! i agree the cops should slow down but cops make up maybe 1/2% of the people here in the county. There are thousands of people who dont have the driving experience or classes offered to police driving like idiots, no signals, speeding, and yes running red lights. If you all really care that much try approaching the issue to all people. Look around and open your eyes! In my book a bunch of finger pointing "pass the buck" complaints are just as bad as a reckless cop! People love to complain yet won't put an effort into the greater good. There will always be bad cops, bad teachers bad lawyers, bad preists.......its called society!!!!! Everyone has issues until they need somthing of others, oh the banks, oh the cops, oh taxes, WA WA WA WA. Look around your products of your society, the same effort that u put in is what your getting. Im sure you will all want to complain about me now, feel free but please when your done ask yourself how you can help the big problem.
Damn I just passed the buck and finger pointed
now a poor girl is without a family because their all dead I should have listened. Gimme a break!!!