Two Pittsburgh police officers providing security detail as part of Vice President Mike Pence’s motorcade Thursday were injured in a collision during his visit to southwestern Pennsylvania.
The accident occurred on Lincoln Way in White Oak shortly before 11:30 a.m. when the officers, who were on motorcycles escorting the motorcade, crashed, according to city police. The two officers, who were part of the city’s Special Deployment Division, were taken to a hospital where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The cause of the collision is under investigation. Pence was enroute to a rally in Greensburg when the incident happened.
The city police said in a statement that the vice president got off the bus he was traveling in “to tend to the officers personally; a gesture that was greatly appreciated by the officers themselves, and by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.”
“Pittsburgh Public Safety would like to thank Vice President Pence and members of the United States Secret Service for the concern and attention they showed the two injured officers,” the police department said.
That accident occurred a few minutes following a minor collision involving the bus Pence was riding in and a dump truck.
Reporter Elizabeth Crisp with Newsweek said via Twitter that the Trump campaign bus had a fender-bender with the truck. The motorcade reportedly came to a standstill around 11 a.m. and was back on the road about a half hour later.
Pence was not injured and was transferred to a limousine for the rest of the route.
UPDATE: The Pence motorcade has now abandoned the bus after a minor accident on a tight curve. VP has transferred to a limo while authorities work out issues with dump truck driver whose driver’s side fender was swiped by the bus.
— Elizabeth Crisp (@elizabethcrisp) July 30, 2020
"Grateful for all of the law enforcement officers who support us and help get us safely to where we are going each day. Thank you for all you do!" Pence told reporters, according to NBC News.
Following the Greensburg rally, Pence toured the Guy Chemical Co. in Somerset.
First Published: July 30, 2020, 4:05 p.m.
Updated: July 31, 2020, 10:07 a.m.
