Newport police officers drive south of new armored van hit by semi-trailer

NEWPORT, R.I. (WJAR) — Two Newport Police Department officers are lucky to be alive after being hit by a truck.

Newport Police Chief Ryan Duffy said two of his officers were dispatched to St. Augustine, Florida, a few days ago to pick up a special response van the department purchased from the International Armored Group.

The company creates bulletproof, protective vehicles for first responders, the military, and more.

Chief Duffy said the van, which they purchased for about $180,000, is critical to the safety of the department and the community.

It is used to transport officers to and from high-risk locations and to transport victims.

“Our delivery vehicle, which dates back to 2004, was taken out of service about two years ago, and this vehicle was our replacement,” Duffy said. “The van is designed to provide ballistic protection to its occupants.”

While driving back to Rhode Island in his new van, he was hit by a truck.

The incident was captured on the dash cam of a nearby officer who was also driving on the highway.

The photo shows the semi-trailer hitting the van and crashing into a concrete barrier on the highway before coming to a stop in traffic.

“It made a big impression on them. They hit the barrier and that semi-trailer pretty hard, so they were pretty shaken up, but they’re doing okay and neither one of them was seriously injured,” Duffy said. “It continued as you saw in the video, there was Dunn, a North Carolina officer, standing behind the trailer, and moments after impact, as the trailer continued to move, the officer stopped the truck.”

What caused the truck to hit them is under investigation in North Carolina.

Chief Duffy said the new van served as armor for his men in what could have been a tragic incident.

“The van itself is probably completely destroyed, but the two officers inside were not injured, and I think if it had been a standard vehicle, I think it would have been a very different scenario,” Duffy said. “It reminds us how fragile life is. You could be doing everything right like these officers were doing, obeying the speed limit, driving in the traffic lane, and as fate would have it, this semi pulled right into their lane. So this is a reminder that you can still do everything right and have bad things happen. happen to you.”

Duffy said they are currently in the process of taking out insurance and discussing with the International Armor Group the possibility of getting a new van from them.

He said the van they bought and ran for a few hours did the job.

“We are very pleased that our officers are safe. Our officers are constantly exposed to danger when working with pets and all types of high-risk cases, and driving a vehicle should not be a high-risk activity, but you never know what can happen,” he said. “You can always replace the vehicle.”