Police pursuit lands New Middletown officer in hospital

After a routine traffic stop around 8:30 Sunday night, a New Middletown officer noticed a vehicle speed passed him.

A pursuit began immediately, going from East Calla road all the way to Mohawk School road in Pennsylvania before ending at Bath and Doggy Works pet grooming business, where the officer crashed into the building.

"The vehicle he was chasing did get away," Police Chief Anthony Protopapa said.

The chief adds, there are rules against chasing suspects more than three miles for safety reasons.

"After three miles, and I didn't write this policy it's an existing policy, notify the next law enforcement department and that's it. Stop the chase," Protopapa said.

The business sustained thousands of dollars worth of damages.

"It's definitely gonna affect us. We had some cancellations this morning, you know just people don't wanna be around all the mess and all the activity but dogs are safe, employees were safe, the people were safe," Philip Gallo, Bath and Doggy Works' owner said. "It's tough, it's a sad thing that you know, even the employees you know, what're they gonna do right now? But we're gonna get through it. By the grace of God we'll get through it," he said.

There is concern about the structural Integrity of the building.

"There's definitely some severe damage that from here over, I'm not quite sure that it is structurally sound so we're gonna kind of block that off," Gallo said.

The officer was air lifted from the scene and remains in the hospital Monday night.

Chief Protopapa tells 21 News he has injuries to his ribs, but should be O.K.