N.C. Officer Crashes Cruiser While Using Computer
July 10--RALEIGH -- A Raleigh police officer was attempting to use a mobile computer terminal in his patrol car when he lost control of the vehicle on an exit ramp and struck a tree early Saturday morning, according to an accident report.
John Cameron Black was responding to "high priority call" when he exited southbound Interstate 440 onto westbound Wade Avenue at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, according to the report released late Monday. Black was going about 76 mph heading into the curve when he lost control and left the road.
The call was an armed robbery at the Ramada Inn on Blue Ridge Road, said police spokesman Jim Sughrue.
Black, 26, was taken to WakeMed with injuries that were not life threatening, according to the report. The crash caused an estimated $5,000 in damages to the cruiser.
Sughrue said Black could be disciplined for using the patrol car computer while he was driving.
"There is a policy prohibiton," he said. "Officers are only supposed to use their computers when the vehicle is stopped."
There were no other vehicles involved in the accident.
Copyright 2012 - The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.