Allan Appel Photo
A police cruiser in pursuit of a man with a gun hydroplaned briefly out of control at around 6 p.m. in the rain Tuesday at the corner of Day and Chapel.
Officer David Zannelli, who was driving, was uninjured, and the man he was chasing was eventually caught.
Injured were a large ornamental planter and a lamppost across the intersection from Immanuel Baptist Church.
Here’s what happened according to Dwight/Kensington District Manager Lt. Ray Hassett:
Several police cars were racing, sirens blaring, along Chapel Street in pursuit of man with a gun.
“The guy ran from Kensington to Day,” Hassett reported after the incident. When he turned north on Day, Zannelli tried to turn also. As he maneuvered his vehicle, he hydroplaned, Hassett said.
The cruiser struck and shattered the planter on the northeast corner and then violently collided with the lamppost across the street on the northwest corner.
The driver-side door flung open, but Zannelli was neither thrown, nor injured. He emerged from the car and was joined by other officers trailing behind in pursuit. (Click here to read a Cop of the Week story about Zannelli.)
Hassett said the man they were pursuing was caught shortly afterwards, but without the gun. Zannelli was uninjured but he went to the hospital just for a check up.
Hassett has called Zannelli, with not quite two years on the force, one of his most versatile and talented officers.
By 7:30 p.m. Miguel Cartagena from the Department of Public Works was finishing his clean-up. It consisted primarily of sweeping up the spilled dirt and shattered granite planter. The lamppost was also bent. Another DPW worker was arranging for it to be repaired.
“Thank God no one was hurt,” said Cartagena.
“Another day,” said Lt. Hassett