A New Jersey police car came dangerously close to being crushed by a large tree when the tree snapped and fell onto the road amid powerful winds Sunday, dashcam footage from the patrol car shows.
Boonton Township police said a sergeant was driving a patrol car eastbound on Rockaway Valley Road just before 8 a.m. Sunday when winds brought a large tree down directly in front of the car.
The sergeant was able to steer his car away from the trunk, narrowly avoiding a collision. But footage shows a pickup truck driven by Alex Conklin coming from the opposite direction slamming into the tree and briefly going airborne before resting on top of it.
Incredibly, the driver did not suffer any injuries, according to police. The sergeant in the patrol car was also OK.
It windy out there, an empty home was blown over in Howard Beach today no one was injured pic.twitter.com/yN5yrZ2gtY
— NYPD 106th Precinct (@NYPD106Pct) April 3, 2016
"(It was) the worst amusement park ride you've ever been on," Conklin said Tuesday.
Tow truck driver Mike Corigliano came to the scene after the crash and took photos after the crash, and noted that a bent bumper appeared to be the only visible sign of damage to Conklin's truck.
"It's something you would see in 'Dukes of Hazzard'," Corigliano said.
Gusts of 60 mph were reported in the tri-state area early Sunday morning, and subsided by the afternoon. But torn-offs roofs, uprooted trees and knocked-down power lines were left in their wake.
Winds knocked out electric power to as many as 63,000 customers in New Jersey and New York, utility officials said.
