|
LAKE GEORGE---A Warren County Sheriff's Officer who was conducting traffic enforcement in an unmarked car collided with another vehicle Monday morning while making an illegal turn, sending both drivers to the hospital.
The Warren County Sheriff's Department investigated the accident which was allegedly caused by patrol officer Eric Mazzeo, 24, making an illegal U-turn in traffic in order to chase a car going in the other direction which he thought was speeding.
Mazzeo had been proceeding north on Route 9 just north of the Million Dollar Half Mile and Route 149. He reportedly pulled to the right shoulder to make a U-turn to chase a southbound car.
The unmarked patrol car reportedly had emergency lights in the back window activated but the car operated by Michael King, 57, of Queensbury was not likely to have known that it was an emergency vehicle, police said.
Mazzeo placed the patrol car in the path of the Saab sedan being operated northbound on Route 9 by King, slamming into the passenger side of King's car, causing it to cross into the southbound lane and flip onto its side.
According to reports, King wasn't hurt. Mazzeo may have suffered a concussion.
It was reported that Mazzeo claimed he hadn't seen the King vehicle. An internal investigation is underway. Because Mazzeo was supposedly performing police duties at the time of the accident, he is immune from any traffic tickets, Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland reportedly said.
In the early 1980's, Cleveland was involved in a fatal accident in Lake George when he was chasing a motorcycle he wanted for speeding through the village at the height of the summer tourist season. An elderly Canadian woman who was trying to cross Route 9 in front of the Tiki Motor Inn was killed when Cleveland and the motorcyclist collided. The motorcyclist, who later became a Queensbury councilman, lost a leg in the accident. 5-16-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
|
