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BY VANESSA RENDERMAN
vrenderman@nwitimes.com
219.933.3241 | Thursday, November 06, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
SCHERERVILLE | A South Chicago Heights woman was arrested after slamming into two parked St. John squad cars at the scene of a Schererville accident early Wednesday.
Belisa Reynolds, 42, was arrested on charges of operating while intoxicated, Lake County Sheriff's Department spokesman Mike Higgins said.
Two St. John officers were asked to help block traffic so Schererville rescuers could respond to an accident involving a semitrailer and pickup truck on U.S. 41, north of 77th Avenue, St. John Police Chief Fred Frego said.
One of the officers saw Reynolds approaching northbound in her car at a high rate of speed. He ran out of the road to avoid being hit, and Reynolds hit the front driver's side area of the squad car, which was blocking the two northbound lanes of U.S. 41. She continued driving and hit the other squad car, which was between 150 and 200 yards away, Frego said.
Lights were flashing on both of the marked police cars when they were hit. The cars sustained extensive damage, but police are waiting for insurance appraisers to determine whether they're considered totaled, Frego said.
No officers were injured, but Reynolds was taken to St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers for minor injuries. The passenger in her car was not hurt, Schererville Fire Chief Joseph Kruzan said.
No charges have been filed in the initial accident, although police believe alcohol was a factor in that crash as well, Schererville Sgt. Diane Peifer said.
In that accident, police and firefighters responded to a call at 2:37 a.m. of a semitrailer hitting a pickup truck.
A 1997 red Ford Ranger heading south on U.S. 41 near Sunset Drive attempted to turn left into a parking lot, but did so in the path of a northbound semitrailer, Peifer said.
The front of the semi hit the front passenger side of the pickup, spinning the pickup around and across five lanes of traffic. The pickup came to rest on U.S. 41, facing west, Peifer said.
U.S. 41 was shut down as rescue workers extricated the passenger, a 37-year-old Schererville man. The driver, a 38-year-old Schererville man, suffered major injuries and is expected to face multiple charges at a later date, Peifer said.
Both men were transported to St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Dyer for treatment, Kruzan said.
"The scary part of this whole scenario is that so often you hear about rescuers being hit by vehicles not paying attention," he said. "Someone disregarded not one, but two police cars. We're thankful today that no rescuers were hurt. This was a very scary situation."
As St. John awaits word on whether its squad cars need to be repaired or replaced, officers on opposite shifts will share their squads.
"We had to make some alterations in our vehicle assignments," Frego said. "We had to temporarily do some things we don't normally do to keep everybody in a car."
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