An officer with the Los Santos Police Department had to be extricated from their patrol car by San Andreas Fire and EMS late Thursday after becoming unresponsive and trapped inside the vehicle.
The incident unfolded when communications dispatchers and fellow officers tried to reach the involved officer over their two-way radio. After numerous attempts, a handful of officers, including a patrol supervisor, rushed to the last known location of the officer's vehicle.
Arriving officers located the patrol car in the 2500 block of Palomino Ave. in Vespucci and quickly realized something was wrong.
Weazel News obtained a clip of the radio traffic from this incident. “Let’s call for an ambulance; this guy isn't responding. He might be unconscious, but it looks like he’s breathing,” an officer at the scene said over the police radio. Resources from San Andreas Fire and EMS responded to the scene to extricate the officer and quickly transported him to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.
While the specific cause of the officer’s unresponsiveness is still under investigation, Weazel News investigative journalist Hehsteer Lult suggests the LSPD’s aging fleet might have contributed to this incident.
According to a freelance news photographer who responded to the scene, the officer's vehicle was a 2000s Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, which would be approximately 20 years old.
The photographer added that the officer's vehicle appeared to be not running and that all windows were closed at the time of the incident.
“This seems like a tragic accident that could have been preventable. My guess is the officer's vehicle became disabled, the officer became trapped and passed out from heat exhaustion,” said Hehsteer.
Sources familiar with the matter of aging city fleets tell Weazel News that it appears the San Andreas Law Enforcement Council is withholding funds for the LSPD’s fleet while prioritizing other departments and state agencies.
This story is developing…
