Squad cars collided while
responding to call for backup
Colleen Kottke
A Fond du Lac police
officer has been suspended following an investigation into a November crash
that injured two police officers.
Fond du Lac Police
Department Assistant Chief Steve Klein said Officer Melissa Sprangers received
an administrative suspension based on results of an investigation into the
crash. The crash took place Nov. 1 at the intersection of Western Avenue and
Macy Street.
Klein declined to release
details of Sprangers’ suspension or how the suspension was served.
Sprangers and fellow Fond
du Lac Police Officer Kristen Kachelmeier were responding in emergency mode to
a request for backup called in by an officer struggling with a subject on South
Main Street. The crash was reported shortly before 9 p.m.
The collision resulted in
damage to both squad cars, a light pole and a legally parked car. Both officers
were transported to St. Agnes Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Klein said the police
department called on the Wisconsin State Patrol to investigate the crash. In
addition, the police department also conducted an in-house administrative
review of the incident.
According to the Wisconsin
State Patrol report, Kachelmeier was traveling south on Macy Street when the
stop and go light turned green as she approached the intersection. Sprangers
was traveling east on Western Avenue and the squad cars collided in the
intersection.
“(Sprangers) was in the
vicinity of Western Avenue and Military Road when she got the call for
assistance. The stop and go light turned to yellow as she approached the
intersection,” Klein said.
While law enforcement
officers may exceed the posted speed limit when responding to emergency calls
they are also tasked with driving with due regard, he said.
“Just because an officer
has their lights and sirens activated — which was the case in the Nov. 1
incident — it doesn’t absolve them of driving with due regard, meaning you have
to be able to slow down at intersections and get through those intersections
safely without causing an accident or injuring someone,” Klein said.
“Obviously, in this case we had an officer that didn’t drive with due regard
which resulted in an administrative suspension.”
The administrative review
also took into consideration environmental factors and volume of traffic at the
time of the crash, he said.
“At the time it was raining
lightly and there happened to be a football playoff game (at Fruth Field two
blocks away) that was just wrapping up,” Klein said. “In the end we determined
that (Sprangers) was not acting within the scope of the established department
policy and state law.”
The Fond du Lac County
District Attorney’s Office reviewed the incident and determined no criminal
charges were warranted in the crash.
“Anytime you have an
accident involving emergency vehicles it is proper protocol and best practice
to have an outside agency such as the Wisconsin State Patrol look at it along
with the DA’s office, making sure there wasn’t any violation of state law
resulting in possible criminal charges,” Klein said. “It didn’t rise to that
level and (the DA’s office) was just another set of eyes looking at the
investigation.”
