| Kenyon cop in car wreck |
By: Corey Butler Jr.
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Posted: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:19 am
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While driving to training near the Twin Cities, Kenyon police officer Justin Reisdorfer was hit in the driver’s door as he entered an intersection. Reisdorfer was OK, but Chief Lee Sjolander said the car is a complete loss. (Photo provided)
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En route to his third day of crisis and hostage negotiation training last week in Brooklyn Park, Kenyon police officer Justin Reisdorfer found himself in a crisis of his own.
Driving in the Kenyon Police Department’s 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, Reisdorfer entered an intersection and was hit in the driver’s door by a woman driving a car at about 30 mph.
He wasn’t fazed by the accident and was ultimately OK. Nor was he concerned about discipline or being embarrassed about the situation.
But then the improbable happened.
As a tow truck loaded his squad car up on the side of road that Wednesday morning, another driver rammed her vehicle into the back of the squad car, damaging both it and the tow truck.
Reisdorfer was digging through the vehicle and removing some equipment.
“I wasn’t very thrilled with that,” he said.
He was fine, as were others near the second wreck.
Reisdorfer, who joined the Kenyon Police Department in December, knew Police Chief Lee Sjolander wouldn’t hold the back-to-back wrecks against him.
“I don’t get upset when that stuff happens,” Sjolander said.
He said he made sure Reisdorfer was OK and that he wasn’t distracted as he entered the intersection.
According to the police report, the snow banks along the road were high and Reisdorfer didn’t see the woman and the woman didn’t see him as he pulled into the intersection.
After the car was loaded up and brought back to Kenyon, Reisdorfer went to his training and got a ride home with an officer from a nearby department.
Once Sjolander saw the vehicle, which he said the driver’s door was pushed in about a foot, he wanted to ensure Reisdorfer was indeed all right. The two visited the emergency room at District One Hospital, where Reisdorfer got a clean bill of health.
The wreck leaves Kenyon with two police cars.
Thanks to its insurance through the League of Minnesota Cities, the city should be able to get another squad car without spending any money.
Sjolander has already contacted the City of Red Wing about a 2007 Crown Victoria. The car’s price is $4,800.
This is an ideal replacement, Sjolander said, because all of the equipment in the wrecked car can easily be moved to the new car. None of the gear in the wrecked car appears to be damaged, he said.
About $15,000 was invested in the wrecked Crown Victoria between the price of the car and its gear and labor costs, Sjolander said.
“The stuff is very expensive,” he said. “That’s why you have insurance.”
For a department its size, Sjolander said used cars are more than suitable.
For now, officers will use the department’s 2003 Chevy Impala and a 2007 Chevy Impala. The former had been primarily used for training and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the now-wrecked vehicle and the newer Impala.
Crown Victorias are a favorite of the officers, Sjolander said, and he said his crew looks forward to the replacement. He said he expects the car to be ready in about a month.
Until then, he said the department would be fine with its smaller fleet.
“It really doesn’t have an effect,” he said. “We’re getting by with the two cars we have.”
When he returned to the metropolitan area Thursday for his fourth day of training, Reisdorfer said he wasn’t concerned about a repeat wreck, though, he didn’t throw caution to the wind either.
“I was a little more careful,” he said.
— Reporter Corey Butler Jr. may be reached at 789-6161 or 333-3148. |
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