Officer killed during Middletown Township Bucks County traffic stop
Jan 31st, 2009 | By Michael L. Saile, Jr., Esq. | Category: Blogs, Local Car Accidents, Pennsylvania Injury InformationMiddletown Township police officer, Chris Jones, was killed in the line of duty on Route 1 in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, near the exits to I-95, on Thursday, January 29, 2009 while conducting a traffic stop. Officer Jones pulled over a speeding vehicle on the right shoulder of northbound Route 1. He had completed his traffic stop when, while walking back to his police cruiser, he was struck by an oncoming vehicle. It is reported that a Toyota Corolla, which was being driven at excessive speed, hit a Pontiac Grand Prix and then plowed into Jones’ cruiser. The Toyota is said to have pinned Jones beneath his police cruiser near the driver-side door, crushing him.
Officer Jones was pulled out from beneath his car and transported to St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, PA. He was pronounced dead two hours later from head injuries.
The driver of the Pontiac Grand Prix, Ignacio Gomez of New Jersey, told police that the other drivers on the road were slowing down and moving over to the left travel lanes. However, Gomez recalls, he (Gomez) was struck from behind by the Toyota Corolla. The Toyota, still moving, swerved around Gomez’s Grand Prix and hit the police car, which caused the police office to be knocked to the ground.
The individual driving the Toyota Corolla which struck Officer Jones has yet to be identified by authorities, but it has been confirmed that the driver is a Middletown Township resident. The accident remains under investigation by Pennsylvania State Police and several local police departments, as well as the Bucks County, PA District Attorney’s office.
Middletown police chief, Frank McKenna, had the highest praise for 10-year veteran officer Chris Jones, as did many of his grief stricken fellow officers. McKenna noted that Jones is the first Middletown police officer to die in the line of duty in the department’s 57-year existence.
Chris Jones was a graduate of Bensalem High School in 1989 and served seven years in the U.S. Navy as a chief petty officer 2nd class. Jones joined the Middletown Township police force in 1998. Jones left behind a wife, Suzanne, two sons, Christopher, and Brendan, and a daughter, Julianne.
Mrs. Jones, on behalf of her family, could open a Bucks County estate and bring a Bucks County wrongful death case against the speeding driver. Hopefully for the Jones family, the speeding driver had ample car insurance coverage. Most likely the speeding driver who caused the Bucks County car accident will not have enough coverage to compensate the Jones family for all of their losses. Perhaps the Middletown Township Police department has some kind of extra insurance coverage for underinsured drivers who cause injuries to officers while on duty.
fitrst off, the actual car that was pulled over for speeding, is NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCIDENT, and without the officers tesim,ony, can not be found guilty of speeding, …
second, no non trained person can testify as to the speed of any car on the road, period.
third, …. when a car is pulled over for speeding, the officert aleways has the patrol car to the roadway, at an angle, closer to the actual road than the car the was stopped, so, even if a car hit hit, it wouldnt create damage towrds the officer,
4th— what is the officer doing on the passenger side of hgis patyrol car?
all speeding stops are handled from the drivers side,…..
and if the officer was walking back to his car, after giving a ticket, or getting the documents, he would have been on the drivers side,
this is all suspicious, ….. i am sorry the officer died, but it looks like he didnt follow the saftey protocol for a traffic stop, period!!!!!!!”
Did you read the article or are you just a angry person towards police officers? If you read the article you would have seen that he was pinned under the DRIVERS SIDE DOOR!!! You know what is funny? If he was on the passenger side, he would still be alive today!! He did everything right in his traffic stop. You would know that if you knew Chris. Keep your comments to yourself. How dare you judge him. Think about the person that hit his car. That is who needs to be questioned!
ok, so when the police officer that was driving the govenor was speeding and cast that near fatal accident, did the occifer get charged or sued? i dont like the double standard.
your only hope is to get all the blackboxes from all the vehicles, and try to see if the speed was recorded, if any car involv ed was speeding, and if black box data would be reliable enough to go to court with.
what is also intresting is that that the article says the other cars were all slowing down and movinbg to the left lane. why? if an officer has someone pulled over on the right shoulder, there is no reason to change lanes to the left, unless the officers car was jutted out into the roadway, and if it was, the officer is at fault here, because it weas not proper protocol.
al.so, it soundfs to me maybe the grand prix was at fault, driving in the right, he tried to get into the left, the cvorola was probably in his blind space, and cut off the corolla, forcing the corala to move quickly to the right, out of control, having just hit the grand prix.
why are people slowing down and moving to the left for? sounds to me like the driver of the grand prix is justifying his cutting off of the toyota by saying all the cars were moving to the left.
again, whgy were the cars moving to the left lane?
this is almost the exact same type accident the govenor was in. cars moving over cause the flashing lights of the governors vehicle, who happened to be speeding , to get back to the mansiuon, to meet don imus and the rutgers womens division 1 basketball team, and handle that whole controversey as to the racist and sexist comments, .. but i digress. if cars were moving to the left lane, there must have been a reason, ie: the police car jutted out into the roadway, …..if it was valid to have been jutted out, there may be a case against the state, …… not sure if there is a case against any of the others drivers, ultimately it appears it was the actually officers car and the red lights, that sparked the entire incident and unfortunate death. sue the state, not the cars that had to get to the left , or the cars they were cut off by cars getting to the left, ……
the State of NJ has plenty of insurance and probably self insurance, to comnpensate for this accident. The driver of the Corola should come forward. It was not his fault, as hit was cut off by the grand prix car, and was out of control at that point, having hit the grand prix, and tried to save it by going to the right, …… but yet the officers car was there, .. but yet, it is the officers car the promted the entire chain of events, ….I am truly sorry for the lopss of the life, ….. but i do feel the State of NJ is at fault here, not the other drivers.
Hi jim Officer Chris John was doing his job on that day. Jim on records from the this tragic event that day Officer Chris Jones was doing his job in the proper way that is always praticed by law enforcement Officers in pa. So for you to compare this to the state trooper speeding. In new jersey makes no sense Officer Chris Jones was doing his job right. And Thank God for Officers like Chris Jones. Jim maybe you should think before you type stuff that makes no sense to what happened here. A wife and Children lost their husband Father and We Including you jim We lost a Good Officer Who did go beyond his call of duty. He is and was one of the Greatest Police Officer to serve. If you had a problem he would help, not just respond to calls but get involved into the calls especially when it involved children. That were missing, and if your car was broke down Officer Jones would help get your car started if not he would take you home so you could be safe and out of harms way .so you could call a tow truck, but his first concern was for you to be safe. SO PLEASE WHY JUDGE SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW JIM ….. YOU KNOW JIM EVEN AFTER ALL THE NEGATIVE STUFF YOU WROTE OFFICER CHRIS JONES WOULD STILL HAVE HELPED YOU. ……. IN LOVING MEMORY OF A GREAT MAN AND A GREATER POLICE OFFICER OFFICER CHRIS JONES REST IN PEACE BROTHER……
Jim:
There is no standard, policy, etc., that says you have to approach the driver\’s side of a stopped vehicle. I workedeveryday with Chris, he was a great cop, and was very safety conscious.
Yes, the car that Chris pulled over was not at fault for Chris\’s death. She is having a very hard time with the event, I hear. So at least yu go one point right.
Other than that, I hope you jump off of a building. Something suspicious about this stop, you\’re a tool.
YOU CAN NOT SAY HE WAS ACTING PROPERLY, THE OFFICER, ……. FACTS ARE NOT EVEN RELEVANT IN A LAWSUITS, LAWSUITS ARENT FACTSUITS. YOU DO NOT KNOW IS THE OFFICER WAS GIVEN THE PROPER TRAINING BY THE STATE, TO THE POINT PROPER DOCUMENTRATION OF TRAINING TO MAKE A STOP IS IN PLACE. YOU DONT KNOW IT, AND HOW DARE YOU SAY IT. ALL THIS SHOULD COME OUT IN A LAW SUIT, TO FIND OUT. DONT YOU DARE START MAKING ASSUMPTION THAT THE OFFICER NOT ONLY DID EVERYTHING CORRECTLY, BUT THAT THE STATE TRAINED HIM CORRECTLY, …… THAT IS IRRESPONSIBLE THING TO SAY WITH HAVING THE DOCUMENTS IN FRONT OF YOU
DANIEL, YOU SAYING THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA TRAINS ITS OFFICERS TO WALK ON THE HIGHWAY, IN FRONT OF ONCOMING CARS DOING 50 MPH, TO WALK TO THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW OF A CAR PARKED ON SUCH A HIGHWAY? WELL, THEN THE STATE SHOULD BE SUED BY ALL PARTIES, CAUSE ANY SAFTEY ENGINEER WILL TELL YOU THAT IS NOT SAFE. AND THATS MY POINT. YOU MAKE IT FOR ME, .. IF THERE IS NO PILICY, THEN OBVIUOSLY THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA IS TO BE BLAMED FOR NOT HAVING A SAFTEY POLICY!