New video released by police in New Haven, Connecticut shows a speeding ATV rider crash into a cop car that purposely blocked its path, severely injuring the rider and damaging the cruiser. This is one of those rare instances where both parties are wrong. The ATV rider should absolutely not have been speeding down a road with pedestrians illegally, and the cop should not have purposely injured a person for committing a crime.
Police told WFSB Eyewitness News that they were addressing complaints of people illegally riding dirt bikes and ATVs in the city, and the road when the crash occurred – Farnum Drive – has been open to just pedestrian traffic since 2020. When the crash happened at around 3:40 p.m. on April 28, there were a large number of people – including families with children – in the area.
Here’s what went down, according to WSFA 12:
“Officers responded to the area of East Rock Park on the reports of a group congregating there and used Farnam Drive to access the park,” New Haven police said.
Officers noticed an ATV rider going down the road at a high rate of speed toward the pedestrians, police said.
“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,” police described.
Authorities said the ATV rider lost control and hit the front passenger side of the cruiser’s windshield.
The ATV rider was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, and there is no update on his current condition.
Residents in the area tell WSFA 12 that these dirt bikes and ATVs are a fairly common sight on Farnum Drive – a place they most certainly should not be. One local said it was “obvious that they’re going too fast and they shouldn’t be on pedestrian roads in the first place.”
New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson released a statement following the incident and some online backlash to local news outlets:
“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.”
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“We need to make sure the people, who are a large amount of people who walk and bike in that area, are safe, so you will see more patrols going forward,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson also apparently said that while there haven’t been many patrols in the area in the past, that’ll most likely change moving forward. Additionally, he said the ATV rider will be charged for the incident, but he does hope he makes a full recovery.
It’s just a shitty situation all around.