Tuesday night, a car collided with a St. Louis police cruiser that was responding to a call for aid, sending the officer and two occupants of the vehicle to the hospital with serious injuries. A third occupant of the car fled the scene on foot.

The collision occurred in midtown St. Louis just east of Washington and Compton Avenues, spinning the cruiser onto the sidewalk and smashing the other car into a building, demolishing it. Police found a gun in the wreckage of the car.

In a strange quirk of fate, just moments before the accident occurred another police officer had been following the car involved in the cruiser accident after noticing that the driver was driving erratically. However, the officer was forced to break off pursuit before stopping the driver to respond to a call for backup by another officer. The officer involved in the accident was also responding to that same call for backup.

When complicated auto accidents occur, an experienced St. Louis auto accident attorney can investigate and unravel the stream of events to determine the truth of what happened. Expert St. Louis personal injury attorneys can also deal with insurance companies to ensure that the settlement received is sufficient to compensate accident victims for all of their losses, which can include medical and hospital bills, lost wages, property damage and pain and suffering endured as a result of the accident.