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Police and prisoner injured after SUV overturns in Arouca crash

Five police officers and a prisoner escaped with their lives after a marked police vehicle overturned during a crash in Arouca on August 31. According to police, the accident happened at around 10 pm near the junction of the Priority Bus Route and Railway Road. Police said a Toyota Land Cruiser, assigned to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), was heading west along the bus route with its strobe lights flashing but neither its sirens nor horns in use. Another vehicle, a beige Toyota Yaris Cross, was driving north along Lower Railway Road and obeying the green light to continue toward Upper Railway Road when the crash occurred. Police said the Land Cruiser was travelling at a high speed when it hit the right side of the Yaris Cross. The impact caused the police vehicle to become airborne at the lights before landing on its right rear wheel, flipping onto its hood, and then landing on the driver’s side. The SUV slid along the road and spun several times before stopping near a concrete post on the southern side of the bus route, about 90 feet from the crash. The occupants of the police vehicle – five officers and a 20-year-old Arima man – all sustained injuries and were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Police Welfare Association head Gideon Dickson told Newsday none of the officers suffered any serious or life-threatening injuries. “No one suffered any injuries that called for them to be hospitalised, but they have pains and bruises.” The driver of the Yaris Cross was taken to the Arouca Police Station, where he was given a breathalyser test. The Bon Air Gardens West resident was found to be over the prescribed limit and was charged by police for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander visited the scene along with DCP Suzette Martin and other members of the Inter-Agency Task Force. Enquiries are continuing. Meanwhile, two police SUVs driving in a convoy on the Audrey Jeffers Highway were involved in an accident, but luckily none of the officers in that incident was injured. Around 8.45 am on August 30, the two unmarked police vehicles, a black Toyota Land Cruiser and a black Prado, were on escort duty behind a marked police vehicle. They were in the right lane of the highway near the Foreshore when they saw two trailer trucks in the left lane and a black Hyundai Creta behind the trucks. The Creta tried to overtake the trucks and pulled into the right lane in front of the marked police vehicle, then came to a sudden stop. The marked police vehicle stopped suddenly, and the Land Cruiser, which was directly behind the marked vehicle, also came to a sudden stop. As a result, the Prado collided with the back of the Land Cruiser, damaging its left rear fender, bumper, and tail light. The Prado’s front right bumper and fender were slightly damaged. The drivers of the two damaged police SUVs reported the incident to the St James Police Station. The post Police and prisoner injured after SUV overturns in Arouca crash appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.