Accident with injuries involving Apple Valley Police Officer
Official Statement from the Apple Valley Police Department - At around 12:12 PM on December 7, 2022, Apple Valley Police officers were responding to a domestic assault involving a weapon when a squad was involved in a motor vehicle accident.
According to Apple Valley Police, two squads were traveling southbound on Cedar Avenue with lights and sirens activated. While they were crossing County Road 42, one of the squad cars was struck by a pickup truck that was traveling eastbound on County Road 42. They are reporting that the officer that was driving the patrol car that was struck suffered minor injuries and was transported to the hospital for further evaluation. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash was looked at by medics at the scene but was not transported from the scene.
The Minnesota State Patrol is assisting with the investigation of this crash.
ORGINAL STORY:
APPLE VALLEY, MINNESOTA - Around 12:12 PM on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, an Apple Valley Police Officer reported their car was hit at the intersection of County Road 42 (150 St W) and Cedar Ave in Apple Valley, Minnesota. They were requesting medics to the scene of the crash. Several emergency personnel was dispatched to the scene including additional Apple Valley Police, the Apple Valley Fire Department, Minnesota Fire Marshall, the Dakota County Sheriff’s Department, and the Minnesota State Police.
Details are limited at this time as to how and what caused the crash, and we also do not have any information on the extent of injuries sustained to either the Apple Valley Police Officer or the occupants of the second vehicle as this is still a developing story. What we do know from our reporter in the field was there was a two-vehicle crash. One vehicle was a small two-door pickup truck with the other vehicle was an Apple Valley Police cruiser. Both vehicles sustained heavy front-end damage with the airbags deploying in the pickup truck.
The vehicles came to a rest in the middle of the south end of the intersection at Cedar Ave and County Road 42. The pickup truck would end up taking out a turn signal at the middle median. The two right lanes going eastbound on Country Road 42 were blocked, the turn lane and left lane of southbound Cedar Ave were blocked, and the two left turn lanes of northbound Cedar Ave were blocked.
Heavy traffic was reported in all directions as a result of the accident. The accident was able to be cleared from the scene by around 1 PM.
We have reached out to the Apple Valley Police Department for more information regarding the crash and will update this story as more information is made available.