Video shows the moment a container fell onto a Charleston Police Department cruiser, crushing part of it, and sending a plume of sparks into the air as it tumbled off a bridge during strong winds last weekend, KTLA’s sister station in South Carolina, WCBD, reports.
Much of the Lowcountry region in the southernmost part of the state saw high winds as a cold front moved through on March 12. As a result, police had to shut down I-526 because of numerous incidents involving transfer trucks and containers.
That day, an officer was in his cruiser assisting a motorist on top of the James B. Edwards Bridge, or Wando Bridge, when an 18-wheeler passed by. The officer can be heard shouting, “Oh, oh!” as the container flies off the truck and onto another cruiser further down the interstate.
The container then went over the retaining wall along the side of the bridge and into the Wando River. Police said the cruiser was totaled.
When Nexstar’s WCBD caught up with Charleston Police Lt. Wojslawowicz later that afternoon, he said that the involved officer, Craig Jones, was “doing OK” after going to the hospital to get checked out.
“Thankfully, no life-endangering issues, so he’ll be fine. He’s a little sore, but it could’ve been much, much worse,” Lt. Wojslawowicz said.
Officer Jones was later released from the hospital.
Coast Guard crews began searching for the empty container in the Wando River and later pulled it out of the water on Monday.
