PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — While on the way to help with an incident, two Pennsylvania State Police troopers in a cruiser collided with a pickup truck early Friday morning in Old City, killing the driver.
Troopers were traveling on the southbound side of Columbus Boulevard around 1:45 a.m. when their cruiser slammed into a green pickup truck. The truck was making an illegal left turn from the northbound side of Columbus Boulevard onto Race Street, authorities said, into the path of the oncoming police car.
Police said the troopers were unable to avoid the truck and hit the passenger side.
"You should have heard it though. Oh man, like a bomb," said Rashid Izzard, who heard the crash. "I'm surprised ain't nothing blow up, that's how hard it was."
The pickup truck overturned, and the police car veered to the side of the road and appeared to hit a pole. The airbags were deployed and the vehicle was significantly damaged.
Initial reports indicated the troopers were in pursuit of another vehicle at the time of the crash, but officials clarified that was not the case. The troopers were en route to assist with a separate incident.
The driver of the pickup truck was killed. A medical examiner's office van was at the scene after dawn. Officials needed assistance from firefighters, who had to cut through a truck door to get to the victim. The driver was the only person in the truck.
The state trooper who was driving was able to get out of the car and was shaken up, witnesses said. Witness cellphone video shows a second state trooper slowly walking away from the crash scene with assistance to get treatment. Officials said they were treated and released from the hospital for moderate injuries.
