GARY—A Gary police officer was injured in a two-car crash Thursday afternoon as he drove to a call.
Patrolman Tommy Tatum, 27, suffered minor injuries but was mostly “shaken up,” Gary police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Decanter said.
Tatum was on his way to a call about 5:10 p.m. when he encountered a train stopped on Grant Street, blocking traffic near 9th Avenue, Lake County police spokeswoman Patti VanTil said.
He turned around and proceeded north when Gary resident Theodore Wilson, 68, began a U-turn into the northbound lane, also to avoid the stopped train, VanTil said.
Tatum was driving about 30 miles per hour in his marked squad car when Wilson’s Chevrolet Blazer struck the squad. Tatum veered to the east and struck a light pole on the east side of Grant Street, knocked the pole out of the ground, VanTil said.
Lake County police traffic reconstructionist Lt. Steve Trajkovich investigated the crash because a Gary officer was involved and there was an injury. Gary police seek an outside agency in those instances, as a standard policy.
Tatum was treated at the Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus, VanTil said.
No citations were issued, she added.