LONDONDERRY — Nearly a week after she and her son were injured when their pickup truck collided with a police cruiser, a Derry woman is accusing the Londonderry police of downplaying the crash.
Amanda Trombley said she was driving along Route 102 about 6 p.m. Thursday, when the cruiser, its blue lights flashing, suddenly cut in front of her to turn left onto Acropolis Drive. She said she tried to stop, but it was too late.
Her Chevy 1500 pickup truck slammed into the side of the cruiser and she and her 6-year-old son, Owen, were thrown against the dashboard.
"Before I knew it, I was hitting him," Trombley, 25, said Monday. "There was no time to think or react in any way."
While Trombley said she bruised her ribs and sprained her wrists, Owen's injuries were more serious.
Owen's face hit the dashboard with full force, breaking his nose and causing facial injuries that required surgery, his mother said. He had to have four front teeth pulled, Trombley said.
Mother and son were rushed to Parkland Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. Officer Sean Doyle, 26, also was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, but was not injured, according to the police.
Doyle, driving east in a Ford Crown Victoria, was responding to a domestic disturbance when Trombley's pickup truck hit the cruiser, according to a release issued by police Lt. Scott Saunders.
The crash is being investigated by the Londonderry technical accident reconstruction team, the release said. Neither Trombley nor her son were identified in the release.
She said she has not heard from the Police Department since the accident and she said police are not taking the matter seriously.
"This was a huge accident," she said. "My son almost died on me."
Trombley also said she was upset by a published report that quoted Londonderry police Chief Bill Hart as saying the accident was a "fender-bender."
"When you spend six hours in a car every day, you are bound to get into a fender-bender every once in a while," the report said. Hart is then quoted as saying he is glad the three people in the accident are OK.
But Owen is not OK, Trombley said.
"His face is unrecognizable," she said. "He is embarrassed to even go to school."
The child was wearing a lap belt and a shoulder belt, his mother said.
Hart said yesterday that Doyle returned to work Monday and that he could not comment on the specifics of the accident.
"From our perspective, we are treating this like any other accident. We would fully investigate it like any other accident," he said. "At this point, the investigation is still ongoing."
Hart said because the crash involved one of the department's own cruisers, the specialized accident reconstruction team is handling the investigation.
When told of Trombley's allegations against the department, Hart reiterated that his initial concern was that everyone would be fine. Hart said because of the nature of the accident, he could sympathize with what Trombley and her son went through, but could not comment on her accusations.
Trombley blames Doyle for the accident, and said the Police Department is obligated to help the family.
"Now, we have no car. They haven't offered to give us a rental," she said. "They aren't even helping us."
Hart said the truck would be returned to the family when the investigation is over, noting it is nearly complete.
