MSP officer runs stops sign, hit by car, arrests other driver

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A police officer in an unmarked SUV ran a stop sign before getting struck by a car on Wednesday.

The crash happened at the corner of Livernois and Cadet Street in southwest Detroit. Video surveillance from a neighbor's house shows a Michigan State Police officer in a silver SUV ignoring a stop sign and driving through the intersection.

That's when Carlos Martinez, driving a red car, collided with the side of the SUV, knocking it off the road.

"All he kept saying was 'you hit a cop, you hit a cop, you hit a cop,' and at no moment say 'how are you, are you okay,'" said Maria Martinez, Carlos's mother. "No, they just handcuffed him like a criminal."

After the two cars collided, the video shows an officer exit the SUV and order Martinez onto the ground. Then they handcuffed him.

"He told him call my parents, call my mother," Martinez said of her son. "The police officer say 'you're 27 years old, you're old enough, you don't need no parents and plus you don't have no rights right now."

Maria said her son is a U.S. citizen.

"He has no criminal history. He's not a criminal, he's never been in gangs," she said. "You don't treat people like that. We're human beings."

Both drivers, as well as a passenger in the officer's SUV, had minor injuries. Carlos has scratches and bruises. The police officer driving was treated for a broken rib and collar bone. His passenger was transported, evaluated and released for minor injuries.

FOX 2 reached out to the Michigan State Police, but MSP said they would not comment on the incident, stating the entire crash is under investigation.

"The grey car was in the wrong. They didn't stop," said one witness. "Unfortunately, it was the police but they were in the wrong."

Maria is still trying to get information from the police. She said MSP has Carlos's license and his phone.

"When I asked the cop to give me his supervisor's number, so I could call and get my son's items back, he didn't want to give me no information."

MSP said Thursday morning the driver had been released to a local hospital and has not been charged.