Paul Bass Photo
These four cop cruisers aren’t parked for fill-ups. They’ve been stuck since Winter Storm Nemo hit.
The cruisers were still at the Mobil at Sherman and Whalley Sunday afternoon after their drivers had to be rescued during the brunt of the historic blizzard that hit New Haven with 34 inches of snow overnight Friday into early Saturday.
Twenty-nine cruisers in all got stuck.
Many still were stuck as of Sunday afternoon, in places like Sargent Drive and Edgewood Avenue. The police were working with public-works crews and the fire department to get to as many cruisers as possible while also tackling emergencies around town.
Assistant Police Chief Thaddeus Reddish, who’s handling the problem for the department, said the drivers of the four cruisers “tried to stay underneath the overhang to stay out of the snow” when the worst of the storm hit. Eight inches dropped on the city between 10:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. alone.
“The snow built up around the cars. They got caught in the drifts,” Reddish reported. “By the time they tried to pull out of there, there was nowhere to go. They had to get rescued. We had to send cars out to get them. Some guys spent hours in their cars.”
“I feel bad for those guys,” Reddish said. “They were out there for so long. They tried to stay visible. With those drifts flying around, before you know it, you’re buried.”
