nothin New Haven Independent | Car, Cop Cycle Collide

Car, Cop Cycle Collide

Mary Johnson Photo

Police Officer Richard Kenney was on his police motorcycle en route to an emergency call today when his motorcycle was hit slightly by a woman driving her car out of a driveway near Campania’s Ristorante at 284 E. Main St. 

Mary Johnson Photo

According to Police Chief Kevin Halloran, the near collision occurred just after noon today as Officer Kenney was traveling eastbound on East Main Street with his lights and siren activated. According to Halloran, the car pulled in front of Kenney’s path of travel , forcing Kenney, a traffic division motorcycle and vehicle officer for many years, to take quick and evasive action in order to avoid a direct head-on collision, the chief said in an interview from the scene. To avoid the car, Kenney controlled both his skid and his slide across the pavement. The motorcycle landed on its side.

Initially police thought there was no contact between the vehicles. It turned out that the woman’s car was slightly damaged on one side, officers said.

Kenney suffered some bruises but apparently was in good enough condition to sit on the lawn while waiting for emergency medical services to arrive.

We are extremely fortunate he wasn’t seriously injured,” the chief said. 

He is OK. He’s a bit banged up but he is alert and conscious,” the chief added. He has some bruises.” He was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital by Branford fire department paramedics for further evaluation. 

Mary Johnson Photo

The car was driven by a woman police later identified as Cheryl Dombrowski, 69, of 15 Applewood Rd. She was seeking to make a left turn from the restaurant’s driveway onto East Main Street and apparently did not see his lights or hear his siren. The restaurant is near a small shopping mall and near the Mews apartments. She pulled over. A crowd gathered. Dombrowski was later charged with traffic infractions, including one for disobeying the signal of an officer and another for failing to grant the right-of-way.
 

Mary Johnson Photo

Police descended on the scene. 

Mary Johnson Photo

Traffic was halted in both directions as the police measured distances from one side of the road to the other in order to put together a reconstruction of the accident. 
 
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