MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A Miami-Dade police officer and another driver were hospitalized Sunday morning after a three-vehicle crash in Miami Gardens.
Prior to the crash, the officer was involved in a chase that took place in response to an assault on another Miami-Dade police officer.
The officer was heading south near the intersection of Northwest 171st Street and Northwest Seventh Avenue when she collided with a black Infiniti.
"Once the police unit and the other vehicle collided, it redirected the police unit into the vehicle that was parked stationary at the light, which at that point, both vehicles caught on fire," Miami-Dade police Detective Argemis Colome said.
The officer was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and the driver of the Infiniti was taken to Jackson North Medical Center. They are both listed in stable condition.
The driver of the third vehicle, a Cadillac SUV, was not hurt.
Colome said the man officers were originally chasing, Bradys Balcinde, 38, was eventually taken into custody without incident just a few blocks away, police said. He was taken to the hospital as well.
Balcinde has been arrested on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and fleeing and eluding.