Cops: Police car, SUV collide in Lindenhurst

A woman was seriously injured in Lindenhurst Sunday afternoon when her sport utility vehicle collided with a Suffolk police car responding to call, authorities said.

Beatrice Green, 65, of Lindenhurst, was traveling east on West John Street about 4:20 p.m. when the crash occurred, police said. The police car was heading north on North 6th Street, police said.

Two witnesses said the officer went through a stop sign on North 6th Street at high speed without slowing down, while Green did not have a stop sign on West John Street. Police did not immediately comment on the claims, saying the circumstances remained under investigation.

The officer was responding to a call for an order of protection violation and had turned on his vehicle's lights and sirens, a police spokesman said.

Green was flown by helicopter to Stony Brook University Medical Center, where she was being treated for "non-life-threatening injuries," a police spokeswoman said. Her condition was unknown. The officer, whom authorities did not identify, suffered minor injuries and was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, the spokeswoman said.

At the crash intersection, officers ordered onlookers away, calling it a "crime scene."

Tim Hollis, 47, who lives in a house at the corner of North 6th and West John streets, said he was sitting on his porch when the police car drove by at "exceptionally high speed."

Hollis said the police car went through a stop sign without slowing down and struck Green's vehicle on the front quarter of the passenger side.

The SUV "flipped right over, like a pancake being flipped," Hollis said.

The officer jumped out of the vehicle and told witnesses to call 911, Hollis said.

Alise Hanley, 55, who lives next door to Hollis, said she ran to her window when she heard the police car siren and watched the accident unfold. She also said the police car did not slow down for the stop sign.

"I don't think that woman had a chance to hear the sirens or see the car coming," Hanley said.