Over $1,000 Damage to Sheriff’s Squad Car in Greenwood Road Accident

No word from the Sheriff’s Department on by Freedom of Information Act request about a July 21st accident on Greenwood Road, except to contact the Bull Valley Police Department.

I did and Freedom of Information Officer and Village Clerk Phyllis Keinz replied today with accident reports.

The interesting one is about the car Deputy Kyle W. Oligney was driving. It sustained over $1,000 damage, which, because county government is self-insured, the taxpayers have to pay.

Here’s what the police report says happened in the accident involving the 2004 Impala squad car:

Driver of unit 1 stated: Traveling s(outh)/b(ound) Greenwood Rd. Unit 2 stopped in front of unit 1 causing unit 1 to strike unit 2 as driver of unit 1 lost control of unit 1 and drove off the road into the ditch striking a pole. Driver of unit 1 stated she had her cruise control set at 60 M.P.H. She stated she didn’t hear any emergency vehicle sirens.

Driver of unit 2 stated: Traveling s(outh)/b(ound) Greenwood Rd. Seen a police vehicle with emergency lights on traveling n(orth)/b(ound) on Greenwood Rd. Slowed down and pulled to the right of the road and was struck from behind by unit 1 pushing unit2 into the n(orth)/b(ound) land and was struck by unit 3 (MCSP [McHenry County Sheriff’s Police] vehicle).

Passenger of unit 2 stated: Traveling s(outh)/b(ound) Greenwood Rd. Driver of Unit 2 ulled to the right of the roadway. A police vehicle (MCSP vehicle) was traveling n(orth)/b(ound) Greenwood Road with the emergency lights on and was struck from behind by unit 1 pushing unit 2 into the n(orth)/b(ound) lane and was struck by unit 3 (MCSP vehicle).

Driver of unit 3 stated: Traveling n(orth)/b(ound) Greenwood Rd with emergency lights and siren activated responding to a vehicle accident with injuries. Driver stated h e seen unit 2 ull to the right of the road and was struck from behind by unit 1 pushing unit 2 into the n(orth)/b(ound) land. Driver stated tried to avoid striking unit 2, stuck unit 2, lost control of unit 2 MCSP (vehicle) striking a tree.

Witness stated: Seen unit 3 (MCSP vehicle) traveling n(orth)/b(ound) Greenwood Rd with emergency lights and siren activated. Seen unit 2 pull to the right of the rd and was struck from behind by unit 2 into the n(orth)/b(ound) lane and was struck by unit 3 ((MCSP vehicle). Witness did not see unit 1 strike unit 2.

Interpreter for driver/passenger unit 2 (Sgt. Campos Cruz 1579).

Two tickets were issue to Theresa Alcazar of Woodstock. One for failure to yield t

Here’s how the Sheriff’s Department described the crash:

“Preliminary investigation shows that on July 21, 2010 at approximately 3:30 P.M., a McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy was traveling northbound on Greenwood Road while responding to an emergency call for service.

“The McHenry County Sheriff’s squad car was being operated with the overhead emergency lights and siren activated.

“The driver of a black in color Pontiac Grand Am that was traveling southbound on Greenwood Road came to a stop while yielding to the approaching emergency vehicle.

“The Pontiac Grand was then struck from behind by a green in color Mitsubishi sedan that was also traveling southbound on Greenwood Road.

“As a result of that crash the Pontiac Grand Am was then pushed into the northbound lane where it collided with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office emergency vehicle. The Deputy attempted to avoid the collision and drove off the right side of the roadway where that vehicle struck a tree.

“Three people were transported to Woodstock Memorial Hospital. All subjects were subsequently treated and released.”


Comments

Over $1,000 Damage to Sheriff’s Squad Car in Greenwood Road Accident — 11 Comments

  1. Ok, and? Sounds pretty straight forward to me. Unit #1 fully Not Paying Attention and causing lots of damage and luckiy, no major injuries.
    Am I missing something? Are we accusing the deputy of doing something
    wrong?

  2. So if the Deputy was not at fault, why would the taxpayers have to pay for the damage to the squad? Wouldn’t the insurance company for the at fault driver take care of it? Or are you just trying to find more reasons to complain? So many unanswered questions…

  3. Gus asks if the officer graduated from elementary school.

    Does anyone else find this amusing considering he has campaign signs strewn throughout McHenry County with the word “Sheriff” misspelled?

    It’s those nagging details that just jump right out at me…..don’t you hate it when that happens, Gus?

  4. What’s your point, Cal? When’s the last time you had to have a car repaired? A 25mph fender bender is going to cost over $1000 these days.

  5. Jack, what do you mean, “What’s your point, Cal?”

    Cal is reporting information that wasn’t available from mainstream media. So, say “Thank you, Cal.”

    The poorly-written report leaves many open questions.

    How much did Unit 2 slow? Was it almost stopped? Stopped? Why? (Was there northbound traffic in front of the squad car, and so Unit 2 stopped to allow the squad car to pass safely? Did Unit 2 slow or stop unnecessarily, contributing to the cause of the crash?

    The slowing of Unit 2 didn’t “cause” Unit 1 to rear-end it. The failure of Unit 1 to slow down in time is what caused Unit 1 to hit Unit 2.

    The speed of Unit 3 is important, to know whether it contributed to the crash. The driver of an emergency vehicle is required to drive so as to avoid a crash.

    Re-read the statement of the witness in the paragraph following the Unit 3 (squad car) driver statement. It is unintelligible.

    If Unit 1 didn’t have insurance, the taxpayers get stuck with paying for repair to the 2004 patrol car, which might be totalled if repair cost exceeds value.

    Thank you, Cal.

  6. THE REASON THE SQUAD WAS RUNNING “HOT” AS GUS CALLS IT, WAS DUE TO MOST OF THE REASONS HE CONSIDERED QUESTIONS ON HIS BLOG. THE SQUAD WAS NORTHBOUND; THE OTHER CARS SOUTHBOUND. THEY PULLED OVER, AS THEY WERE TAUGHT IN DRIVER’S ED, UPON THE APPROACH OF AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE, WHICH WAS RESPONDING TO AN ACCIDENT WITH REPORTED INJURIES. WHEN A LIFE IS ON THE LINE, AND YOU MAY BE BLEEDING BADLY, YOU WOULD HOPE THAT EMERGENCY PERSONNEL GET THERE QUICKLY (THE GOLDEN HOUR). ONCE SOMEONE GETS TO THE ACCIDENT, THEN THEY CAN CALL OFF ADDITIONAL HELP, AND THE SQUAD CAN SLOW DOWN AND CONTINUE IF NEEDED. I STILL AM SENSING THAT OTHERS THINK THAT THE ACCIDENT WAS THE FAULT OF THE SQUAD CAR, WHICH COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG. IF VEHICLE #1 HAS INSURANCE, THEN THE COUNTY IS OUT THE DEDCUTABLE, WHICH COULD BE RECOVERED IN SMALL CLAIMS, BUT ISN’T WORTH THE COST. CAL’S QUESTIONS ABOUT UNIT #2 AND UNIT #1, ABOVE, ARE MOSTLY UNANSWERABLE, SINCE BULL VALLEY’S OFFICER WASN’T ON SCENE TO WATCH THE ACCIDENT HAPPEN. THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN IN A BAD ACCIDENT BEFORE KNOW THAT THEY USUALLY HAPPEN IN A SPLIT SECOND, AND EVEN THEN APPEAR TO BE HAPPENING IN “SLOW MOTION”. SOUNDED TO ME LIKE THE SQUAD TRIED TO AVOID HITTING AN OBJECT IN IT’S PATH AND SAVE LIVES BY HEADING FOR THE DITCH. GOOD JOB DEPUTY

  7. The article never said that the at-fault driver was cited for no insurance. Why is there even an argument or gripe over taxpayers having to pay for the accident?

  8. The point is that the southbound cars were not required to stop. Slow, yes; and stop, if necessary, to allow the emergency vehicle to pass safely.

    The speed of the squad car may have been a contributory factor. Until the speed is released, no one will know. From the distance traveled beyond the point of impact and the force with which the squad hit the tree, the speed appears to have been high.

    If the speed of the squad car was 85-90MPH, he closed the distance between the oncoming, southbound cars quite quickly, and the first southbound driver (Grand Am) may have over-reacted due to surprise.

    When you get in a wreck enroute to an accident with injuries…. well, I guess I don’t need to finish that sentence.

  9. If the deputy was going 85-90 MPH I’m sure there would have been serious injuries or even death, but what do I know.

    What bothers me is that you, Gus, blame everything on the police! “The Grand-Am may have over-reacted due to surprise” —If that were the case, which it was not reported as being the case, would you truly believe that this would be the Deputy’s fault? How is a guy in his car supposed to control the actions of somebody else in a different car?

    If you were in a car accident, trapped in your car, and on fire how fast would you want emergency personnel to drive to your aid? Don’t amuse us with your crap and say that you would expect them to drive the speed limit. What is the speed range that you find acceptable when running “hot?”

    Sometimes I wonder if you say these off the wall things just to start controversy for the sake of argument. If not, then damn you have a weird outlook on life. Unless you can start looking at facts and stop focusing all your energy on hating the police I believe you would be the worst Sheriff that this county has ever had. Period.

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