April 03--ROWLEY -- A Rowley police officer escaped serious injury yesterday morning after his cruiser collided with a red Chevy Suburban on Route 133 as he was rushing toward a medical emergency on Wethersfield Street.
Matthew Ziev, a six-year veteran of the force, was traveling east with his lights and siren activated around 11 a.m. when his 2011 Ford Crown Victoria cruiser and the SUV, operated by Jerilyn Silverstein, 48, of Rowley, collided near General Products and Gear Corp. Silverstein was traveling west at the time of the crash.
The cruiser sustained extensive damage to its passenger side, while the Suburban received damage to the front end.
Rowley fire Chief James Broderick said Ziev had to be extricated from his cruiser. Ziev was then placed in an ambulance and driven to the Rowley police station where a Medflight helicopter was there to meet him about 11:30 a.m. Ziev was flown to Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
"I think he's going to be OK; he certainly doesn't have any life-threatening injuries," Rowley police Chief Robert Barker said a few hours after the crash.
Silverstein was transported to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, where she was also treated and released.
Barker said the crash is under investigation by a state police accident reconstruction team, which was at the scene for about two hours. Route 133, one of the town's main roads, crossing over Interstate 95 and Route 1, was closed for about three hours following the crash. Assisting local police and firefighters were police units from Georgetown, Ipswich and Newburyport.
Ziev was responding to a medical aid call involving a 3-year-old child who had stopped breathing. According to Barker, the emergency was handled by other local police and fire units, along with an Action Ambulance crew. The child was transported to a nearby hospital, but her condition is unknown.
Copyright 2012 - The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
