SOUTH JERSEY

Body cam captures moment passing motorist struck police cruiser

Carol Comegno
The Courier-Post

BURLINGTON TWP. — A  police officer escaped injury when a passing car hit his police cruiser as he was exiting his driver door.

Burlington Township police posted a video of the Sunday night incident on its Facebook page Tuesday.

Police Lt. James Sullivan said the officer was involved in a traffic stop on southbound Route 130 south of La Gorce Boulevard when a passing car in the first lane narrowly missed the police officer, striking the cruiser's driver door.

The video, captured on a body-worn camera, shows a vehicle whizzing by as the officer steps out of his car. The video does not show the impact, but the sound of the impact can be heard.

A Burlington Township police cruiser was struck by a passing car, narrowly missing a police officer as he was getting out of his vehicle during a car stop on Sunday, April 14, 2019. The officer acted quickly to get out of the way and was not injured. The other vehicle remained on scene to assist with the investigation, and both occupants escaped injury as well.

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Sullivan said the cruiser was partially parked in the first lane due to a very narrow shoulder and that the door was severely damaged and "nearly ripped off its hinges."

"Thankfully, the officer acted quickly to get out of the way and was not injured, but he was a bit shook up," Sullivan explained, declining to identify the officer or the other driver.

However, he said the motorist stopped and remained on scene to assist with the investigation. The driver later received a traffic summons for violating the state Move Over Law.

That law requires motorists to slow down and/or move over into the adjacent or another traffic lane when approaching any emergency vehicle with flashing lights.

"We put information about the Move Over Law into the Facebook post as a public service notice to alert motorists to be attentive while driving and obey the Move Over Law. For more information on the law, visit https://www.nj.gov/oag/hts/move-over-law.

Neither of the two occupants in the passing car were injured, Sullivan said, and the car the officer had initially pulled over was not struck, Sullivan added.

    Carol Comegno:@carolcomegno; 856-486-2473; ccomegno@gannettnj.com 

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