State Trooper, Palo Alto cruisers collide in pursuit; Suspect apprehended
PHOTO COURTESY - Haley Bianco - A State Police patrol car and a Palo Alto patrol car after they collided at West Bacon and Howard Streets in the borough on February 14, 2018.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
PALO ALTO – Two police vehicles were damaged after colliding during a pursuit in the borough of Palo Alto Wednesday afternoon.
According to State Police, a state trooper from the Schuylkill Haven barracks, identified as 27-year-old Trooper Tyler Brackman, engaged in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle eastbound on West Bacon Street.
At Howard Street around 3:40pm, a Palo Alto police officer, identified as 43-year-old Sergeant Joe Kavanaugh, blocked the eastbound lane of the roadway in an attempt to end the pursuit.
The fleeing vehicle avoided the officer and continued eastbound toward Port Carbon, after which Kavanaugh attempted to back onto a side street and clear the roadway. However, Brackman was unable to stop his vehicle, striking the Palo Alto patrol car in the driver’s side door and a utility pole at the southwest corner of West Bacon and Howard Streets.
The state patrol car, a 2015 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan, had to be towed from the scene.
Brackman and Kavanaugh were both treated and released at a local hospital, according to State Police.
The fleeing driver, identified as Michael Flickinger, 42, of Port Carbon, was arrested in the city of Pottsville Thursday on a felony charge of Fleeing or Eluding a Police Officer, a misdemeanor charge of Reckless Endangerment, and 17 summary traffic violations. Flickinger was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge James Ferrier and committed to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $10,000 straight cash bail.
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