A call from a police commissioner who sent two Overland Park officers to look into an “unknown incident” on Interstate 435 early Wednesday gave no hint that there was going to be anything out of the ordinary about the incident.
The dispatcher returned moments later saying, “It’s actually going to be a semi-truck pulling a car stuck underneath,” according to audio captured by Broadcastify.com.
As officers hurried to the Metcalf Avenue and I-435 area, the dispatcher advised that the truck was crossing Antioch Road and continuing westbound on I-435. He said the people who reported the crash “think they think someone is inside the vehicle stuck under the semi-trailer.”
By then, the semi-trailer was approaching Quivira Road.
“Can you advise Lenexa and KHP in case we are unable to get there?” the dispatcher was asked as officers converged on the area.
Eventually, an officer caught up with the truck and stopped it near Lackman Road on I-435.
As firefighters and emergency medical teams rushed to the scene, an officer asked the dispatch to inform them that the driver was unconscious and possibly not breathing. Officers said they were unable to take a pulse.
“It looks like he’s starting to recover now,” an officer said moments later. “Let the doctor know we’ll need to untangle.”
The woman had told officers she could not move to get out of the car. She also complained that she was in a lot of pain.
After firefighters arrived and freed her from the vehicle, an ambulance took her to the hospital for a checkup. Her condition has not been released.
Police believe the semi-truck pulled the car nearly eight miles after an accident occurred around 3:30 a.m. at the intersection of the I-435 westbound on-ramp and State Line Road.
The truck was crossing an intersection running a green light when the Kia, heading south on the State Line, ran through a red light. The Kia, driven by a 28-year-old Kansas City woman, struck the trailer in front of the rear wheels, said Capt. Brad Robbins, a spokesman for the Leawood Police Department.
The truck driver told police he saw nothing after the impact, so continued driving until stopped by officers, police said.
Dispatchers received a 911 call just after 3:30 a.m. that a semi-truck was pulling a vehicle under the side of its trailer on westbound I-435. Overland Park Police were able to stop the semi at about 3:45am
Leawood Police are investigating.
