Saturday, May 31, 2014 | 11:42 a.m.
Metro Police are investigating a wreck that happened while an officer was en route to an incident that left a suspected purse thief dead after a shootout with officers.
The officer was driving northbound on Interstate 15 just after 9 p.m. Friday — lights and siren flashing — when a black car in front of the officer started to pull over, then abruptly re-entered the lane, according to a Metro release.
The officer swerved and lost control of the patrol car, sliding into a 2014 Ford Fiesta.
The officer sustained a minor injury and the two people inside the Ford Fiesta were transported to University Medical Center with moderate injuries, the release said.
The accident involving the patrol car happened at I-15 and Flamingo Road.
The officer-involved shooting happened at I-15 and Sahara Avenue after police tracked a man suspected of snatching two women’s purses at Town Square to the area, police said.
Capt. Matt McCarthy said during the briefing on the officer-involved shooting that the officer was responding to that incident when the wreck happened, but that the crash was unrelated.
The names of the officers involved in the incidents have not yet been released by Metro.
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