JPD Report: Driver Didn't See Police Car

cited a Capri Drive resident for failing to stop for an emergency vehicle and failing to yield the right of way after her car hit a police cruiser at about 4 p.m. on Oct. 3.

Eleanor Spremulli, 76, of 2 Capri Dr., reportedly told police that she didn't see the oncoming police cruiser driven by Sgt. David Alverson before the two vehicles collided.

According to police reports, Alverson had the cruiser's lights and sirens on when Spremulli's Toyotal Camry pulled out of her street and into the path of Alverson's car. Alverson had been on the way to investigate a report of a disturbance at Traver Avenue, off Killingly Street.

With no time to apply the brakes to his car, Alverson said, he tried to steer away from Spremulli's car. Alverson's cruiser hit Spremulli's car in the driver's side rear, then drove up onto the front lawn of Spremulli's house, causing damage to the driver's side front of Alverson's car and minor damage to a decorative garden in the yard.

In his report, Alverson quoted Spremulli as saying: "I didn't see you coming until I pulled out."

A witness to the crash, identified as Robert Meyer of Coventry, reportedly told police that he saw Alverson's cruiser heading down Cherry Hill Road with the siren on and light flashing, and Spremulli's car "abruptly pull out in front of the police cruiser," Lt. Thomas Dolan reported.

Dolan also noted in his report that he did not see any fresh skid marks on the road from either vehicle.

Following the collision, Spremulli refused medical treatment from Johnston rescue personnel, but was later taken to Fatima Hospital by family members, Dolan stated. She was treated and released. Alverson was not injured.

Spremulli is scheduled for a Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal hearing on Nov. 17.