CHARLESTON, S.C. — High winds in South Carolina caused a container to fly off a tractor-trailer and crush a Charleston police cruiser that was traveling on a bridge, authorities said Saturday.
The tractor-trailer was passing an officer who was in his police cruiser, Sgt. Elisabeth Wolfsen, a spokesperson for the Charleston Police Department, told WCSC-TV. The officer was responding to a disabled vehicle on a westbound lane of Interstate 526 at the Wando Bridge, the television station reported.
High winds lifted the empty container off the 18-wheeler and onto the cruiser, then slid off the vehicle and into the Wando River, Wolfsen said. The truck then turned on its side, WCBD-TV reported.
📸 Winds caused the container of a truck to fly off, land on a CPD cruiser, and then slide off into the Wando River. Thankfully the officer and truck driver are okay. #chsnews pic.twitter.com/TzkmHp8MPJ
— Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) March 12, 2022
The officer was unhurt but the vehicle was heavily damaged, WCIV-TV reported. The truck driver was also uninjured, the television station reported.
It was one of three incidents caused by high winds on the bridge Saturday, according to WCBD.
High winds also blew another container off an 18-wheeler on I-526 eastbound, causing the truck to jackknife, the television station reported.
“The chassis of the truck became twisted because of the accident,” police said.
In a third incident, an empty container flew off a transfer truck on the Wando Bridge, according to WCBD.
©2022 Cox Media Group
