SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police officer suffered broken bones Monday when he was pinned against a concrete wall by a driver who sideswiped his patrol car after the officer had pulled over another car, police said.
The chain reaction of crashes happened after the officer initiated a traffic stop on a Fiat on Loop 410 near Starcrest Drive around 9:15 a.m. Police said the driver of a Chevy who was in the fast lane saw the officer writing the Fiat driver a citation and slowed down.
For unknown reasons, a driver behind the Chevy hit the vehicle, causing it to sideswipe the officer's patrol car. The impact from that collision caused the patrol car to strike the Fiat.
The pinned officer was able to free himself after some time, but suffered multiple broken bones in his legs, police said.
The collision caused other collisions. Police estimated five cars were involved.
San Antonio police spokesman Carlos Ortiz said officers oftentimes are put in "precarious" traffic situations while trying to get disabled vehicles off the road, helping someone change a tire or writing a citation.
"A lot of times, when an officer initiates a traffic stop, he doesn't have the liberty to tell you where you're going to pull off," Ortiz said. "A lot of times, he has to create that traffic stop where the violator pulls off. Yes, we'd like somebody to exit or pull over to the extreme right, a lot of times that's not available and what happens is that violator usually pulls up along the left side."