CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Cheektowaga Police Department is investigating a rollover crash involving an emergency vehicle.
The crash happened just before 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at the intersection of Genesee and Transit.
According to police, a Hy-View Fire Department vehicle was responding to a medical emergency when it drove through the intersection. They say an SUV traveling in a different direction through the intersection then collided with the emergency vehicle.
Authorities with the police department say the emergency vehicle had lights and siren activated, but a witness tells me that isn't true and shared his dash cam video to prove it.
Richard Jurczak, the man whose dash cam video caught everything, tells me he noticed something off about that Hy-View Fire Department vehicle.
“The car that struck the other car had no lights and no siren on when it actually happened,” Jurczak said. “I don’t care about what people think. I saw what I saw. You’ll see in the video.”
WATCH: ‘No lights and no siren’: Witness questions cause of Cheektowaga crash involving emergency vehicle
In Jurczak’s video, no lights can be seen on the fire vehicle, driving up Transit Road, until just as the initial impact happens.
After the impact, as the other SUV slides down Genesee Street, the siren on the fire vehicle can be heard on the video for the first time.
“It occurred, and then the lights and the sound come on. You can hear it in the video,” Jurczak said. “I think the people that were involved in the accident should know that there is a video of the accident; it shows exactly what happened.”
Right after the crash, Jurczak tells me he told responding police officers he caught everything on camera.
“I tried to tell him that I had a video, but I didn’t know how to get it, and they didn’t want to bother with it,” Jurczak said.
Despite this, Cheektowaga police have not changed their original statement, which says that the emergency vehicle had its lights and siren activated.
“They’ve got to rewatch the video,” Jurczak said. “As far as I am concerned, they have it wrong… But if you did it wrong, don’t lie to me, tell me the truth.”
The Hy-View Fire Department has not returned any requests for comment.
