AKRON, Ohio — On Monday, there were still remains of scattered car pieces on East Archwood Avenue and South Arlington Street in Akron after police said a traffic accident had happened over the weekend involving one of their police cruisers and a local driver.
Now, Star Timmons said she is counting her blessings.
“Just thankful to be alive. I think it was my mom holding me, guiding me to that ground 'cause the impact should’ve killed me,” said Timmons.
News 5 received a shocking video from Hair World Beauty Supply on East Archwood Avenue in Akron, which showed the moments of a bad crash that happened just before midnight on Saturday.
Star Timmons, 38, doesn’t remember being ejected from her Kia Sorento and suffering from a head injury at the busy intersection.
But she said her scars are a painful reminder.
“I remember I was coming down Arlington to turn onto Archwood to go to my aunt’s house and I woke up in the hospital,” said Timmons.
According to Lt. Michael Murphy, two Akron police officers were responding to an unknown emergency call on Tarson Terrace when Timmons and the marked police cruiser collided.
Investigators said Timmons was trying to turn left onto East Archwood Avenue from South Arlington Street just as the police cruiser was heading southbound on Arlington and approaching the intersection.
Murphy said the two police officers and Timmons were injured, along with Timmons’ 22-year-old daughter, who was left with deep facial cuts.
“We don’t want to rush to assign blame or fault to anyone, and we want the investigation to be able to run its course,” said Murphy.
Timmons said she did not see any police lights or hear the cruiser’s sirens.
“They should slow down and turn their lights on,” said Timmons.
Murphy said the department’s accident reconstruction unit will investigate this.
“There are instances in which the procedure does allow for officers to go to calls without using their lights and sirens. If they’re in emergency response, lights and sirens should be activated. But again, these are things that we’re still working through,” said Murphy.
Another factor that Murphy said detectives are investigating is speeding.
Some social media comments suggested the police cruiser initiated a chase that led to the crash. I asked Murphy if this was true, false or too early to say at this time.
“That would be inaccurate. The officers were not involved in a chase when the crash occurred. The officers were responding to a call,” said Murphy.
Murphy expects to have more information in the coming days.
