DETROIT – A Detroit police sergeant rescued from his burning cruiser after a crash was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, police Chief Ralph Godbee said.
The sergeant couldn't be reached despite several attempts during his overnight shift before crashing about 4 a.m. Thursday on Interstate 96, Godbee told The Detroit News.
Passers-by pulled the sergeant from the burning vehicle. He was treated at a hospital and released.
Firefighters extinguished the burning car, and the expressway was closed for about three hours following the crash.
"I am disheartened that a member of the Detroit Police Department holding a supervisory rank, who has been sworn to protect and serve, and to display the highest level of professionalism, would endanger the lives of others as well as his own," Godbee said in a statement. He said he ordered the sergeant, whom he didn't identify, suspended without pay.
Godbee said the actions "will lead me to seek dismissal of the sergeant."
Truck driver Wally Senkow, 56, of Steinback, Manitoba, said he pulled over after the crash and saw the officer struggling to open the door of the smoking cruiser.
"I couldn't get it to budge. Luckily, there was another younger man nearby, and he really banged on that door to get the officer out," Senkow said. The cruiser burst into flames minutes later.