Crime & Safety

Johnston Man Arrested for Sideswiping Cruiser

Justin McDaniel, 25, faces a charge of failure to stop after an accident.

Johnston Police charged a local man with a hit-and-run after his car sideswiped a police cruiser while the officer was helping a motorist.

Officers also cited Justin McDaniel, 25, with a laned roadway violation and driving without insurance following the Sept. 22 early-morning crash, according to Ptlm. Adam Parkinson.

In his report, Parkinson wrote that he was sitting in the cruiser in the right travel lane of Hartford Avenue near the I-295 interchange, stopped and with its lights activated, to help another officer who had responded to a disabled vehicle.

Just after 1:30 a.m., McDaniel's car "veered into my lane and violently sideswiped" the parked police car, Parkinson noted, then continued onto the I-295 South exit.

Parkinson drove after McDaniel and pulled him over a short time later.

McDaniel said he had been reaching for a cell phone when his car hit the cruiser, Parkinson wrote. 

The driver's side mirror of the cruiser had been torn off from the impact, according to Parkinson, while McDaniel's car had "scuff marks from mirror to mirror" along the passenger side.

McDaniel is due for formal arraignment in Third District Court on Oct. 2.


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