CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Buffalo police officer remains in critical condition Friday after a car he was chasing Thursday afternoon stuck a light pole that fell onto the police car, hitting the officer and leaving him unconscious.
The officer is 29-year-old Jonathan Negron, who has been on the force for two years. Negron was being treated at ECMC’s Trauma Intensive Care Unit with severe head trauma. Buffalo Police Benevolent Association President John Evans tells us Negron has a fiancée and infant son.
BPD said officers were responding to a call of a white vehicle with four suspects inside with a gun on Crossman Avenue near Genesee Street at 12:58 p.m. The officer tried to stop the vehicle and a chase began around 1:01 p.m. The vehicle went off the road into Mount Calvary cemetery. The vehicle exited the cemetery and crossed Harlem Road, hitting a light pole.
The pole crashed through the BPD vehicle’s driverside window, knocking the officer unconscious around 1:05 p.m. Other responding officers transported Negron to ECMC in a BPD vehicle. The crash took place near Mafalda Drive and Harlem Road in Cheektowaga.
The four suspects were taken into custody.
Buffalo Police’s Accident Investigation Unit is working to reconstruct the accident and the Homicide Unit is handling the criminal investigation. A BPD spokesperson says agencies on the local, state and federal level are canvassing the scene to collect evidence along Pine Ridge Road, Mount Calvary Cemetery and the scene of the accident.
Authorities won’t say if the gun one of the four suspects allegedly had was found, emphasizing that a canvas for evidence is underway, and they cannot comment on what has or hasn’t been discovered.
Watch the full Buffalo Police press conference below:
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