The police chief of Milwaukee was involved in a car crash just after attending a news conference denouncing reckless driving Monday, in an incident the mayor called “cruelly coincidental.”
The collision involving Chief Jeffrey B. Norman happened at 10:10 a.m. local time on North 68th Street and West Silver Spring Drive, the police department said in a release.
Norman was stopped at a red light when a dump truck headed in the same direction tried moving to another lane and rear-ended his SUV, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter who witnessed the collision.
Norman and a 56-year-old officer in the car with him were transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. The driver of the other vehicle involved remained at the scene and is “cooperating” with the investigation, according to authorities.
“Milwaukee Police want to wish Chief Norman and the officer a complete and speedy recovery,” the release said. The collision is being investigated by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement Monday, “I have reached out to Chief Norman to offer my wishes for a quick recovery. The traffic crash that injured the Chief was cruelly coincidental in that it took place immediately following our news conference on reckless driving.”
“We did not need this type of reminder that all drivers need to slow down and increase caution on our roadways,” he added.
In that earlier press conference, the city’s leaders met to discuss efforts to curb reckless driving and Johnson signed a resolution seeking to expand penalties by impounding vehicles for a first offense.
That press conference came after three people were killed last week by a driver who sped through a flashing red light, crashed into their vehicle and pushed it into a tree.
The Milwaukee Police Department had posted: “We know that everyone needs to be a part of the solution. Today, we stood in support of our intergovernmental partners on a move forward to impact legislative change. We are one Milwaukee with the common goal of a safe community!”
Milwaukee Alderman Lamont Westmoreland, who was also at the press conference, told Wisconsin Public Radio: “It’s super frustrating, but again, we don’t know if this is reckless driving related,” adding, “it just goes to show you that no one is exempt from anything out here on the streets.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
