By Mara H. Gottfried, Taylor Nachtigal and Anne Millerbernd
Pioneer Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul police squad car and Green Line light-rail train collided Monday afternoon, knocking the officer unconscious and causing buses to replace train service for about an hour.
The officer, Pil Jeon, was roused at the scene and taken to Regions Hospital complaining of neck and back pain, said Sgt. Paul Paulos, St. Paul police spokesman. He was released from the hospital early Monday evening.
Neither passengers nor the train’s operator reported injuries to Metro Transit, the agency said.
The crash happened about 2:30 p.m. at Pascal Street and University Avenue, as the train was eastbound and the squad was northbound. Witnesses reported the squad’s lights and sirens were on.
People in the area ran to help, said Adrian Ramirez, who witnessed the crash as he was folding clothes at the Laundry Place at the corner of University and Pascal. He said the impact shook the laundromat’s window.
“He had a lot of angels,” Ramirez said of the officer. “He had a lot of people in the community responding.”
Jeon “had glass all over his face” and his portable radio had been thrown from the squad car, which was spun around by the impact, Ramirez said. The officer regained consciousness while Ramirez was there.
Walter Munson was working as an attendant at the Laundry Place when the crash occurred. The train had struck the squad’s gas tank, spilling gas onto the street.
Fearing the gas would start a fire, Munson said he turned off the squad car’s ignition and called 911.
A man from a mechanic shop in the area put down sand or something similar on the gas in the street, Ramirez said.
“It was a terrible scene,” said Ramirez of St. Paul. “I thought he was really dead because it hit him so hard. ... That train couldn’t have stopped.”
Jeon was working off-duty, according to police radio traffic of the incident posted by Minnesota Police Clips. St. Paul officers can get approval from the police department to work off-duty at businesses or establishments. It wasn’t immediately known where Jeon was working Monday afternoon.
At the same time as the crash, police were responding to a report of a stolen vehicle in the area. The suspects had fled and officers were looking for them. Police didn’t confirm whether Jeon was helping with that call, and Paulos said the department is looking into what emergency calls were happening at the time.
Some passengers on the train reported that it jolted to a stop. Rockey Smith of St. Paul was seated and said the abrupt stop caused his mouth to hit the safety bar in front of him. Smith said the impact gave him a headache.
Light-rail service resumed between the Capitol/Rice Street and Raymond Avenue stations just after 3 p.m.
The 11-mile, $957 million Green Line began service between downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul on June 14. There have been scattered collisions involving vehicles and pedestrians since then. One was fatal. On Aug. 31, a 42-year-old Minneapolis woman was killed as she crossed the tracks in a pedestrian walkway at the Westgate Station, near University Avenue and Emerald Street.
Copyright 2014 the Pioneer Press