Was Central Park Cop Scooter Speeding During Crash?

Photograph of a NYPD scooter "parked" in Brooklyn by noneck on Flickr

Last week, a police officer was suffered neck and back injuries after his scooter—the kind that looks more like a little golf cart—crashed into a light signal pole in Central Park at West 77th Street and West Drive. The cops told DNAinfo that the light pole "fell on top of the police scooter, causing the officer to lose control of the three-wheeled vehicle and tip it over onto its side." But a runner told a different story.

Stephane, who was near the accident scene, said the cop was speeding (chasing a cyclist, perhaps?). According to DNAinfo, he "said he saw the scooter whiz by, cutting off a white SUV from the left, then veer into the bike lane before smashing into the pole." Stephane believes, "The driver lost control because he was going too fast and tried to maneuver in a way that is not compatible with a three-wheeled vehicle. Upon impact, the pole was uprooted from the ground and flew into the air." He added, "I could have been killed by that scooter. I was thinking it would be a bike or taxi, but not a cop's scooter. Luckily for me, I didn't start running five seconds earlier than I did."

The cops claim another witness saw the pole hit the scooter first.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 6, 2011 1:20 PM

Comments [rss]

blindmalice

Another day, another NYPD lie. The fact that this ridiculous story could even get as far as being reported (a light pole simply fell down out of nowhere) just proves that lying is accepted, encouraged and when committed, covered up by higher ups. Anything to not bring blame to any officer for any action, no matter how outrageous (Times Sq bicyclist?)
Ray Kelly and the NYPD are completely out of control.

petercow

"Completely out of control" is something like New Orleans, but it's clear that lying is tolerated.

In the Times Square cyclist case, was there ever any action taken against Pogan's partner - who corroborated the bogus complaint?

Of course not.

clipper321

couldn't he say he was chasing a guy in assless pants out of the Ramble?

Fronko

The Central Park Precinct is giving a lot of NYPD officers a bad name. As much as people like to complain about cops, the vast majority want to do the right thing and keep people safe. This precinct's focus on ticketing cyclists and shifting blame from out of control interceptor drivers to rogue lamp posts is really embarrassing, especially considering crime in the park has gone up by over 40% in a year. Where are their priorities?

Guest

During this time of the year, there is little crime in Central Park, In fact, this year (as of 2/20) there has been a total of 3 UCR felonies (2 robberies and 1 grand larceny) reported in the confines of the CPP. During the last 28 days, there has not been one reported felony. You might have a point in the summer, but in January and February it is hard to argue that crime is out of control in the park.

RevWaldo

I like how these scooters are called "Interceptors", just like the police vehicles in "Mad Max".

random transplant

Park & NYPD property was damaged. An officer was hurt. A witnesses account has been contradicted. This is the same beat where enforcing the speed limit for auto traffic is dismissed with the blatant falsehood of "selective enforcement".

Are there photo's of the impact points where the light pole struck the cruiser & insurance/mechanic documentation of what repair work had to be preformed? Of course there must be.

What does the city plan to do about these hazardous unsecured light poles that are randomly toppling over in the middle of the day?

You don't have to be Rod to know this is bullshit.

m015094

When is the last time a runaway bicyclist knocked a light pole over?

Andy White

The light pole just fell over on its own recognizance. It just collapsed! Are the boys in blue this fucking dumb?

SFNY

Um, yeah, "an unleashed dog darted into traffic" or "a bicyclist cut off the officer" would've been a bit more plausible.

GalBklyn

nah -- just standard cya and bs speak till the story goes away.

... "The cops claim another witness saw the pole hit the scooter first."

but they could have spent a wee bit more time coming up with something a bit more believable...

handsomedevil

This is what I would call a "fuck you" lie - you aren't supposed to actually believe it, it just means that the speaker doesn't think you deserve a real explanation.