Red light collision wrecks cruiser, pickup

Emergency crews had less than a dozen yards to travel when they responded to a crash involving a police car that smashed into a pickup when the officer ran a red light.

The accident happened shortly after 11 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Sprigg and Independence streets -- less than a block from both the Cape Girardeau police and fire headquarters.

Police say that while patrolman Tyson Estes, 25, ran the red light while going south on Sprigg, he was justified. Estes was responding to an emergency call and had turned on his siren and flashing lights -- meeting requirements of a state law granting emergency vehicles immunity from traffic regulations under certain circumstances, said police spokesman Jason Selzer.

The posted speed limit in the area is 30 mph.

"There's no immediate indication he did anything blatantly wrong," Selzer said. "He slowed down, and when he thought the truck was stopping, he continued."

But the westbound truck didn't stop, and the collision knocked it off the street and up against the north wall of the fire station, damaging a cable conduit that holds fiber optic wire and leaving scratches on the brick wall, said interim fire chief Mark Hasheider.

The driver, Earl Lee Wilcox, 47, of McClure, Ill., may be accountable too, Selzer said. Wilcox was charged Tuesday with a felony of driving while intoxicated and two misdemeanors for driving while revoked and no proof of insurance. Police arrested him on two outstanding Cape Girardeau city warrants for failure to appear in court. He is in custody on $7,800 bond for the DWI and $650 for the warrants.

Both men and a passenger in the police car, Nathan Pinter, received some scrapes and bruises, Selzer said. Pinter is a former employee of the city jail and was riding along with Estes, apparently out of an interest in law enforcement as a career, Selzer said.

This was Estes' third accident in his two years with the department, said Capt. Carl Kinnison, describing the others as minor. Those occurred when Estes struck a side mirror while driving through a tight space and when he turned his car on a gravel corner and slid into a retaining wall.

On Monday, Estes was driving to help another officer in a foot pursuit of a suspected unlicensed driver who ran from his car to avoid police.

The cruiser, a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria purchased used for about $11,000, was totaled. Damages to Wilcox's truck were not as severe.

Estes, who took his Tuesday night shift off, has not been placed on suspension as a result of the accident, police said.

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160