By Richard Irwin
The Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE — Three city police officers responding to a fellow officer running after an armed robbery suspect and two occupants of a Chevrolet were injured this afternoon when the vehicles collided near the former site of Memorial Stadium, police said.
All of the injured were taken by city Fire Department ambulances to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Their names and conditions were not immediately available.
Deputy Major Dennis Smith said the marked police car containing three Northern District officers was heading to assist another officer chasing a man suspected of robbing a drugstore nearby in Waverly about 4:40 p.m. and that its lights and sirens were activated when it entered the intersection in the 3900 block of Ellerslie Ave. at Old York Road. The cruiser collided with the white Chevrolet compact occupied by a man and a woman, he said.
Smith said the force of the impact caused the front and side air bags in each vehicle to deploy, preventing more serious injuries.
He said the police car was totaled and had remained in the middle of the intersection, while the other vehicle came to rest on the southwest corner of Ellerslie Avenue and Old York Road. Its damage was severe, he said.
Smith said no one was ejected from a vehicle.
Medics arrived moments after the collision and administered first aid to the injured before all were taken to Shock Trauma.
Smith said the crew of a city police helicopter remained above the crash site looking for the robbery suspect. Hours after the robbery, he remained at large.
Smith said the city police traffic investigation team was attempting to determine the direction both vehicles were headed before they collided.
Streets surrounding the crash site were blocked off by police cars and crime scene tape, while local traffic was detoured onto other streets.
Copyright 2008 The Baltimore Sun