Police Car Slams Into Animal Hospital In Springdale

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Slippery roads caused a big problem for a police officer in Springdale Thursday morning.

The officer's cruiser slid on some ice, which sent the car across a parking lot and into the side of a veterinarian's office.

The gaping hole that was left behind is now boarded up and the vet clinic is open for business.

The owners say they got very little sleep after what happened, but they felt they owed it to their customers and their animals to open today.

"I heard him, I heard him coming," says witness Larry Roche. "I watched him go right into that building and I thought, 'Man, that's not professional.'"

Roche lives right across from the River Valley Veterinary Hospital in Springdale and says the roads were slick with snow and ice this morning.

Police say the officer was responding to a burglary alarm call and was traveling along Pittsburgh Street when he lost control around 12:30 a.m.

The officer tried to avoid hitting a pole and went into the veterinary parking lot, where he hit ice, a fence and then plowed into the side of the building.

"I was kind of shocked because I hoped he didn't get hurt," Roche said.

Authorities said the officer was okay, but was trapped inside and had to wait to be cut out.

"He sat there for a while. He didn't get out of the car the fireman came and took him out of the car," Roche said.

Crews had to pull the cruiser out with a tow truck. The vet hospital owner says there's damage to an exam room, but nothing is wrong structurally.

Springdale Borough's police chief says he's happy this officer is going to be okay. He says it's a reminder that something like this can happen to any officer because they're out on the roads at all times of the day.

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