Bloomfield Police Involved in Three-Car Crash

[Editor's note: This story originally published Nov. 1. It has since been updated with new information.]

A Bloomfield police SUV was one of three cars involved in a crash Thursday afternoon at the intersection of Ampere Parkway and Chester Avenue.

Witnesses said the impact caused the police SUV to flip over and then upright itself. The other two cars involved were a gold Toyota Camry and red Buick Lacrosse, which had its driverside airbag deployed.

Bloomfield Police Officer John Morano, who was driving the SUV at the time, was en route to an emergency call at the Sunoco at 72 Bloomfield Ave. when he was struck by the Buick, according to Sgt. Anthony Servedio of the Bloomfield Police Department.

The Buick was driven by an 82-year-old woman from East Orange. It is unclear if she suffered any injuries.

Morano was treated for injuries to his legs, arms and head at an area hospital where he was kept for five days before being released, Servedio said.

"I just heard boom," said Jonathan Rodriguez, who lives at the corner of Ampere Parkway and Chester Avenue. Rodriguez said he was outside when the crash happened before 1 p.m.

The intersection is usually guided by a blinking four-way light, with flashing red on the Chester Avenue sides and yellow for cars traveling on Ampere Parkway. That traffic light was knocked down during Hurricane Sandy.

Rodriguez said he'd like to see a traffic light at the busy intersection.

"I think they should put a red light because there's always accidents here," he said.

At 2 p.m., all three vehicles were towed away as some residents looked on and snapped pictures with their cell phones.

- Mike D'Onofrio contributed to this report.