Officer Crashes Into Pole During Pursuit in Chelsea, Mass.

Police say the suspect fled, leading the officer on a pursuit which led into Chelsea

Eyewitness video shows a Revere, Massachusetts police officer moments after he was seriously injured crashing his police cruiser while pursuing a suspect from Park Avenue in Revere into Chelsea around 8 a.m. Thursday.

"We heard the loud roar, we heard like the speed of the car and all the sudden we saw the white Honda Civic I think it took the corner like speeding, he almost sped off," said electrician Franchesco Ortiz.

Ortiz was working nearby when he first saw the alleged suspect's car followed by the Revere police car, which he says lost control around the curve on Marginal Street.

"It spun out it hit that first pole and then right when it hit the first pole it slid and then hit the second pole," Ortiz said.

Both utility poles cracked and started leaning over the road from the impact, one was completely sheared off. The front end of the police cruiser was smashed in and the airbags deployed, as smoke started coming from the undercarriage of the SUV.

"He was in so much pain he really couldn't even talk, he was just like help me," Ortiz said.

So Ortiz said he and a another man ran to help.

"I know his legs were hurt because right when we tried to pick him up to walk he wasn't able to walk," said Ortiz, "so basically I just grabbed his legs and the other pedestrian who was helping us out too grabbed his arms and we carried him over here."

The officer was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Officials say the suspect took off, heading in the direction of East Boston.

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