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Two Albany police officers are recovering from injuries sustained in a collision that occurred while they were responding to an emergency call on Wednesday (February 18) in Albany, New York.
According to Albany Police, the incident happened around 10:55 a.m. near the intersection of Central Avenue and Henry Johnson Boulevard. The officers were traveling westbound in an unmarked police vehicle with lights and sirens activated when another driver heading eastbound made an illegal U-turn, causing a collision.
"The officers were driving west on Central Avenue and after going through a green light, another car driving eastbound made an illegal U-Turn and hit the car the officers were in," police officials stated.
The impact sent the police vehicle into a parked car that had a woman inside. A total of four people were injured in the chain-reaction crash, including both officers, the driver who made the illegal turn, and the woman in the parked vehicle. All four were transported to local hospitals with what authorities described as minor, non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver responsible for the illegal U-turn was issued several traffic citations, though specific violations were not detailed in police reports.
Interestingly, WNYT reports that the emergency call that prompted the officers' response—a report of shots fired near 400 Central Avenue—was later determined to be unfounded after investigation.
The Albany Police Department continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the collision.