Police Car Crashes on Way to Accident

A police officer rushing to the scene of an accident Friday swerved to avoid another car and slammed into a brick wall at a residence on the east side.

Officer Nancy Moore, 38, suffered a fractured wrist and unknown injuries to her hip in the crash at Petit Avenue and Butte Street, police said. Moore was taken to the emergency room at Ventura County Medical Center, where she was being treated late Friday.

Sgt. John Turner said Moore was heading north on Petit near Telegraph Road toward a traffic collision on Foothill Road at about 4:15 p.m. when she attempted to pass a driver making a left turn onto Butte Street.

As Moore passed on the left, the other driver began to turn, and Moore veered into the brick wall.

Turner said the California Highway Patrol would investigate who was at fault. Witnesses reported that Moore’s flashing red lights were on, but not her siren.

Marc Pronovost, 48, said he was washing his car at his Stanislaus Avenue home when he heard tires screech, and then the sound of the patrol car hitting the wall.

He said he ran to assist Moore, who has been on the force about 10 years, but she told him not to move her, Pronovost said.

“The screeching went off for like three seconds,” Pronovost said. “There was this loud thumping sound, and then her air bag went off.”

The front end of the patrol car was crushed by the impact. The other driver, a neighbor of Pronovost, was questioned by authorities. She declined to give her name or comment on the accident.