Five injured in collision involving SQ police cruiser

Five people, including a Sûreté du Quebec (SQ) police officer, were taken to hospital on Sunday, October 9, after a police cruiser and a passenger vehicle were involved in a collision on Highway 50 in Brownsburg-Chatham.

A male police officer from the force's Argenteuil division was seriously injured when his cruiser was struck by a minivan occupied by a couple and their two children. The crash took place shortly after 12 p.m. at kilometre 248 of the highway.

"It appears that the police officer was trying to turn around for a traffic stop," said SQ Sgt. Benoit Richard. "He went to the right side of the road and started to do a U-turn, but he didn't see the vehicle approaching behind him."

The officer was struck in his driver's side door by the minivan that had been traveling behind him. Rescue workers quickly transported all five people to the CSSS Argenteuil Hospital for various injuries, none of which have been deemed life-threatening, said SQ spokesperson Daniel Thibodeau.

The officer suffered serious injuries to his hips and pelvis and had to be cut from his car by firefighters from Brownsburg-Chatham. A surgeon specializing in trauma injuries was rushed from Montreal on Sunday to operate on the officer, who remained in Lachute.

"After seeing the accident, our collision expert said that the officer was lucky to survive such a high-velocity accident", said Richard, noting the officer is expected to remain in hospital for a number of weeks before beginning physical therapy.

"He is an experienced police officer who has been on the force for about three years," added Richard. "He's young and hopefully he will be able to come back and continue working."

All four family members in the minivan were released from hospital by Monday morning.

Highway 50 was briefly closed on Sunday while SQ officers inspected the scene of the accident.