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CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat
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A Tucson Police Department officer walks past one of the squad cars involved in an accident yesterday morning at the intersection of North Euclid Avenue and East Second Street.
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By Ty Young
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday October 15, 2003
Two police cars crashed into a median while chasing a robbery suspect, sending five people to the hospital yesterday morning.
Three Tucson Police officers, a father and his son were hospitalized and later released after a police car hit a newly installed pedestrian median at 8:25 a.m. at North Euclid Avenue and East Second Street.
The intersection was blocked off until the early afternoon.
Officer Danny Peralta drove into the center turn lane while chasing an armed robbery suspect southbound on Euclid. He did not know that the concrete median had been installed. When he hit the median, his airbag deployed and his patrol car slammed into oncoming traffic, TPD spokesman Sgt. Marco Borboa said.
Peralta's patrol car hit a car driven by Xupin Zeng. Zeng's 12-year-old son was also in the car, Borboa said.
A patrol car following Peralta, driven by officer Nowie Mendoza and carrying officer Monte Gonzales, also hit the median, but did not hit any other cars, Borboa said.
Zeng, his son and the three officers were treated at the scene, taken to University Medical Center for additional treatment and later released, UMC officials said.
Police were chasing a 1990 Nissan Altima after Peralta recognized the car's description from a strong-armed robbery report the night before. The robbery took place at the Texaco station located at 1570 W. Grant Road.
The suspects robbed the man of his wallet and implied that they had a weapon, Borboa said.
The suspect's car was pulled over near North Fifth Avenue and East 15th Street yesterday morning after Peralta ran the Altima's license plate through the police database.
When he questioned the driver, he sped off. At least three people were in the car, Borboa said.
During the chase, the suspects also crashed into the median, veering off into the front yard of a home on the northwest corner of North Euclid Avenue and East Second Street. The suspects fled, leaving the car still pinned to the chain link fence surrounding the yard, Borboa said.
At least three suspects were in the car and all are still at large, but TPD possesses the car and has witness accounts of the suspects, Borboa said.
