Philomath Police Department patrol vehicles were involved in two crashes one week apart. Local police were not at fault in either incident, Police Chief Dave Gurski said.
The first crash occurred just after 5 a.m. Dec. 26 on Main Street near North Seventh Street, officials reported.
According to information provided by police, “The driver side of a patrol vehicle was hit by a larger truck while the officer was patrolling.” No injuries were reported.
“It was dark and rainy and he was pulling out onto Main Street,” Gurski said. “Our officer was westbound and they just kind of sideswiped him as he was going past.”
Gurski said that per protocol, another law enforcement agency investigated. According to a Benton County Sheriff’s Office report on the incident, a 38-year-old Monmouth man driving a 1999 Peterbilt “drove into traffic unaware of an oncoming vehicle.”
The second crash occurred just after 2 a.m. Jan. 2 in the 3100 block of Main Street, which is on the east end of town in the vicinity of The Boulevard apartment complex. That incident involved the patrol vehicle hitting a deer that ran into the road.