Cop in crash en route to accident

File photo / Martin Sykes

A Northland police sergeant has been discharged from hospital after he broke his arm when his patrol car collided with a fully laden logging truck as he raced to attend another crash this morning.

His patrol car was also extensively damaged in the crash, which happened shortly after 6am on the Hikurangi by-pass north of Whangarei.

In the earlier crash, three man were injured, one critically, when their vehicle left the road and rolled near Hukerenui on State Highway 1.

Two of the men, aged 52 and 49, are in a stable condition in Whangarei Hospital and a 44-year-old man has been treated and discharged.

The police patrol car and the logging truck collided about 25 minutes later as the sergeant headed to the first crash.

The truck driver was shaken but not hurt, police said.

Police were investigating.

- NZPA