CPD patrol car involved in six-car accident on P.J. Adams
A multi-car accident on P.J. Adams Parkway at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday evening involved a Crestview Police Department patrol car as well as five other vehicles.
Officer Marsha Barnett was operating the fifth vehicle in line waiting for the traffic light to change at S.R. 85 when she was struck from behind by a 2003 Ford four-door driven by Dorothy Gonzalez, 44, of Crestview. The force of the collision pushed the squad car into the 2001 Oldsmobile van in front of Barnett, which in turn struck a 2009 Volkswagen SUV in front of it.
The VW struck the 1999 Dodge SUV waiting in front of it, which was operated by a 17-year-old driver from Baker, that in turn struck the rear of the first vehicle waiting at the light, a 2007 Toyota SUV containing two women and two children.
“Officer Barnett was sitting in traffic on P.J. Adams and someone hit her from the rear, causing her to strike the vehicle in front of her,” explained Maj. Joseph Floyd of the Crestview Police Department. “The Florida Highway Patrol investigated and found that the Crestview Police officer was not at fault.”
Several of the drivers and passengers suffered minor injuries, including Officer Barnett and the 82-year-old operator of the Volkswagen. His 84-year-old wife was not injured. The two boys, ages 7 and 9, and the women in the Toyota SUV were also uninjured.
The FHP troopers on the scene estimated total damages to the vehicles at $16,000, including $2,000 to the Crestview Police cruiser, $6,000 to the Volkswagen, and $5,000 to Gonzalez’s Ford. The other three vehicles sustained estimated damages of $1,000 each.
