An Arizona woman was arrested and placed in the back of a police cruiser after being pulled over for DUI. After being placed in the police cruiser a second car slammed into the back of the cruiser, causing the cab to become engulfed in flames and kill the woman inside. According to authorities, both vehicles were ignited in flames and started to catch another vehicle on fire.
This is the most recent death in the past decade attributed to a fuel tank rupture in a Ford Motor Co.-made Crown Victoria during a rear-end collision.
According to reports, Lt. James Warriner, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman, said investigators are looking into why the gas tank exploded this time since both Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors at the scene were equipped with fire suppression systems that deployed.
The police officer originally stopped the 45-year-old motorist about 1:15 a.m., arresting her and put her in the back of a cruiser along Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson, Warriner said.
Another vehicle was travelling westbound at about 65 mph and then drifted into the emergency lane and plowed into the back of that vehicle, Warriner said. The cruiser ignited instantly, and the officers were unable to rescue the woman inside because of the intensity and heat of the fire.
The impact pushed the first cruiser’s trunk into its back seat, and rammed the car into the patrol cruiser in front, severely damaging its rear end as well. The second cruiser continued the chain reaction, striking the woman’s parked vehicle.
Fortunately, officers were able to rescue the woman who had been driving the moving car, which had gone over a guard rail and sustained fire and crash damage. Officers said the 28-year-old driver was taken to a hospital with undetermined injuries.
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