Pregnant Hyde Park woman hospitalized after head-on collision with squad car

Note: On my way home from Hyde Park the other night I drove by nine squad cars and about 15 police milling around on the corner of 55th and Woodlawn. If you live around the area you probably saw it too. Here's what happened for those curious...

Nov. 2--A 36-year-old pregnant woman from Hyde Park was sent to the emergency room Thursday night after a police car collided with her vehicle on the corner of 55th street and Woodlawn Ave., according to District 21 Police.

The woman, whose name has been withheld by police, was taken to the emergency room at Northwestern University Hospital after a squad car driven by Officer Lonnie Young struck the front of her Honda CR-V. According to Sgt. Ronald Behling, she was turning left from Woodlawn Ave onto 55th Street while Officer Young was turning right from 55th Street onto Woodlawn Ave. when the collision occurred.

“His turn was really wide,” said one eyewitness, the manager of a Starbucks Coffee at the corner. “He cut the wheel left at the last second but it was too late. The cars met mouth to mouth.”

The collision occurred at 9:08 p.m. and caused severe damage to both vehicles, leaving them undriveable. Young was turning to respond to an emergency call from another officer. Behling offered the unexpected activation of the squad car’s lights as the cause of the collision.

Officer Young was taken from the accident scene to the emergency room at the University of Chicago Hospital. He was released later that night, has been listed as “injured on duty” and did not report to work today.

The Hyde Park woman, who had been wearing her seatbelt according to police, left the hospital later Thursday night with minor injuries, according to a Northwestern University Hospital Triage Nurse.