On-duty Cape Girardeau Police officer is involved in collision

Editor's note: The following story has been updated.

On Tuesday, an on-duty Cape Girardeau police officer was involved in a collision with another vehicle.

Two people who said they witnessed the incident, which occurred about 2 p.m., said the officer drove out of the Cape Girardeau Arby's parking lot while holding a cellphone. The officer turned west onto Independence Street and collided with a blue Nissan.

Shanda Redden said she witnessed the incident and said she saw a phone in the officer's hand.

"I was about to pull out of the Aldi parking lot when the cop was pulling out of the Arby's parking lot. Traffic was stopped, so he was crossing a couple lanes of stopped traffic. I looked at him and paused because I wasn't sure if he was turning left or right. He had his cellphone in his hand as he was pulling out," she said. "He was careless and not practicing safe-driving practices. He should have never had that cellphone in his hand."

ChyAnne Bartoe said she witnessed the incident.

“We were stopped at the stop light right there, and the line was already pretty big. And there was a cop pulling out of Arby’s, and as he was pulling out, he was on his phone ... and then the next thing I know that blue Nissan came up on my left-hand side like they were going to turn left. ... I don’t think the cop even happened to look that direction before he pulled out, or if he did he wasn’t paying any attention at all,” she said.

She said she called in a witness report to the department.

Cpl. Ryan Droege of Cape Girardeau Police Department confirmed the incident and the record department said a report on the incident would not be available for several days. The officer has not been identified.

The department issued a statement Friday morning. The statement says no witnesses identified themselves at the scene. The statement also contends the department was not given an adequate opportunity to comment.

"The officer made an error, as all humans do. He will be held accountable through the department’s policies and procedures," the statement says. "More importantly, the CGPD does not withhold information from the public. We respond to all requests for information in a timely manner. If any information is prohibited from release for legal or statutory reasons, we explain that on a case by case basis."