By Mary B. Pasciak
The Buffalo News, N.Y.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Police Officer Jonathan Negron woke up and was able to talk Sunday, more than a week after he was injured and lost consciousness after a light pole fell on his patrol car during a chase, Capt. Jeff Rinaldo said.
The 29-year-old officer has been in critical condition in Erie County Medical Center since June 3, when he responded to a 911 call about a car with four people wearing masks and possessing a gun.
He suffered injuries to his brain and spinal cord and had been in a medically induced coma.
Negron responded to the 911 call June 3, which reported the suspicious vehicle a few blocks from Pine Ridge Road and Genesee Street. He pursued the vehicle, an SUV, for about a mile. Other officers from Buffalo and Cheektowaga also joined the chase.
The SUV drove through Mount Calvary Cemetery. When it was leaving the cemetery, the vehicle crashed into a light pole. The pole then fell through the windshield of Negron’s car, injuring him.
Officers found him unconscious and performed CPR before taking him to ECMC.
The 16-year-old driver of the vehicle Negron was chasing, who had run away from a juvenile facility in Rochester, was charged with second-degree assault and unlawfully fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle.
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