By Jaxon Van Derbeken
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco police inspector apparently had an accident on his way to work on Monday and was critically injured, police said Wednesday.
Inspector Kevin Cleary, 42, a 17-year-veteran and medal of valor winner, was in a coma and in intensive care at San Francisco General Hospital after the incident, which was reported to Taraval Station officers at 8:54 a.m. Monday.
Cleary’s supervisor, Lt. Jim Spillane, said a neighbor saw Cleary bleeding and wandering outside his home and summoned police.
By the time aid arrived, Cleary had gone inside the house and officers found the entry gate locked. Several minutes later, officers got a key and entered the home, finding Cleary in bed.
“He fell on the stairs; it looks like he ended up falling on his head,” Spillane said. “There’s blood on the landing where he would have fallen and some on the wall where he tried to pull himself up.”
The neighbor told police that she helped Cleary back inside his home but decided to call 911, even though Cleary asked her not to.
“He was telling them that he had to get to work,” Spillane said. “I don’t think he was aware what happened. His injury was so severe, he wasn’t processing things correctly.”
Spillane added: “It looks purely as though he fell — he has had some problems with his knee and back, his leg may have given out from under him.”
Copyright 2008 The San Francisco Chronicle