Two Washington DC police cars were totaled after officers had a “drag race” on a city street.
The officers crashed their squad cars into each other after hitting speeds of at least 60mph during the rush-hour incident last week, according to FOX5.
“Two 6D scout cars were totaled because officers decided instead of fighting crime, patrolling their beats, or engaging the community – they decided to drag race each other on Anacostia Avenue at 5 pm in the evening,” Metropolitan Police Department’s Sixth District Commander Durriyyah Habeebullah wrote in an email obtained by the station.
“What does this say to all the members of MPD who are passionate about their job and work hard every day to make a difference. This is not fair to any of us.”
In the email, Commander Habeebullah said that when she discussed the incident with MPD Chief Robert Contee, he told her he had been told of an MPD vehicle responding to a shooting at 90 mph.
“What good are officers to their fellow officers if they don’t arrive safely or they total vehicles that we need to do our job,” she added.
DC Police confirmed an investigation has been launched into the incident.
“MPD is currently investigating an incident in which two MPD vehicles were involved in a traffic accident on Thursday, April 22, 2021, in the1400 block of Anacostia Avenue, NE,” an MPD spokesman said in a statement.
“Preliminarily, it appears the members may have been racing the vehicles, resulting in an accident. Four Sixth District MPD members were taken to area hospitals for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
“The members involved have been placed on non-contact for the course of the investigation.”
