Infant, YPD cruiser involved in Market Street crash

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A motorist struck two vehicles – one Youngstown police cruiser and another carrying an infant – after running the red light at Market and Front streets just after 2 p.m. Thursday, police said.

“It looked like she was going 50 miles an hour – she was cruising,” said Jarrod Marrie of Sharpsville, Pa., the father of the infant.

The woman’s Nissan SUV was traveling southbound along Market Street, toward the bridge, police said. A Youngstown officer traveling east along Front Street entered the intersection after receiving the green light.

“She didn’t even try to stop. She just kept going and took his whole front end off,” Marrie said.

According to Marrie, after shearing off the police cruiser’s front guard, the woman’s SUV spun sideways, struck his Toyota SUV, then spun almost 180 degrees and came to rest in the northbound lane, just before the bridge. One lane of the bridge remained open to southbound traffic.

“It was obviously going faster than it should have been,” said Youngstown Police Sgt. Ed Kenney.

Emergency crews arrived and checked the infant’s vitals, which appeared good.

The infant and mother were taken to the hospital as a precaution, Marrie said.

The woman who reportedly ran the light also was transported to a hospital but was able to walk and speak with officers first.

“We were getting my baby’s birth certificate today,” Marrie said. “It was supposed to be a good day, and here we are.”

Kenney said a separate crash at the intersection happened almost immediately after – possibly caused by curious onlookers, he said.