Lower Merion cruiser injures bicyclist

A bicyclist was struck and injured Wednesday morning by a Lower Merion police cruiser on East Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore.

The cruiser, headed to an emergency, was pulling out of a parking place in front of the Toyota dealership near where Chatham Road meets East Lancaster when it hit the westbound cyclist just before 9 a.m., said Sgt. Gene Pasternak of the Lower Merion police traffic safety unit.

Brad Paul, owner of the dealership, said the man on the bike was a Toyota employee but he would not identify him because his family had not yet been notified.

The man was flown to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, but his condition was not known. Pasternak said he did not believe the injuries were life-threatening.

The Lower Merion department is investigating. Police were trying to determine whether any surveillance cameras had captured the accident, Pasternak said.

The officer involved, whose name was not released, was not removed from patrol duty.

"We wouldn't take an officer off the street unless it was something really serious," Pasternak said.