Missouri: Motorist drives through red light, hits Hannibal police car

It is not known what sort of day a Hannibal man was having before 5 p.m. Saturday, but it definitely took a turn for the worse a few minutes after 5 o'clock when he drove through a red light and struck a Hannibal police car in the side. No injuries were apparent after the collision, although the unidentified officer in the HPD vehicle did report being “sore,” according to Kathy Davis, patrol operations commander at HPD.

According to HPD, at 5:04 p.m. the patrol car, a 2015 Ford Interceptor, was northbound on Grand Avenue, crossing the intersection at Grand and Broadway, when it was struck in its passenger side by a 1994 Ford Ranger that was westbound on Broadway. “According to witnesses at the scene the driver of the truck entered the intersection on a red light, striking the police vehicle,” said Davis in an e-mail response to a Courier-Post inquiry regarding the incident.

Driver inattention was blamed as the cause of the accident. The driver of the pickup, 52-year-old Christopher Seeley of Hannibal, was cited at the scene for Failure to Yield - Intersection/Accident. Because of officer involvement, the mishap was subject to a department review, according to Davis.

“All accidents involving police officers on duty are investigated at the scene by a supervisor,” she said. “In this case the investigation was conducted and supported by witness accounts. We are satisfied that the officer was not at fault.”

As for the year-old patrol car, whose side airbag deployed, it is not know if it is repairable. Even if it can be fixed it will likely be off the streets for a while. “Depending on the damage it could be out of service for several weeks or months,” said Davis.

The loss of the car should not create a transportation headache for the city, reports Davis. “Since our HPD fleet is fairly new we should be able to absorb the loss of the vehicle for a period of time,” she said.