NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB)– After a fundraiser last week, Dirty Bird Chicken and Waffles presented Officer Jonathan Negron with a check for $1,000 this past weekend to go toward his continued hospital care. Officer Negron, was critically injured when a car he was chasing hit a light pole and fell on his patrol car.

“It kind of hit close to home, I’m a police officer in the falls,” said Raul Parker, owner of Dirty Bird. “We don’t do the job for pay so I know that every little bit would count.”

Negron was in a medically induced coma for more than ten days after the incident. He has since woken up and been able to speak and breathe on his own.

Parker, who has been on the police force for six years, says he was compelled to help a fellow officer as that could have easily been him in that situation.

“That could’ve happened to me or any one of my friends. Every day we drive countless miles in the police car and every day we risk our lives and put our lives on the line and he came close to losing his life.”

Parker met Negron for the first time over the holiday weekend at the hospital and says he’s a great guy with a beautiful family.

“It’s going to be a long road to recovery for Officer Negron but we’re optimistic that he will be back out serving the community he loves.”