Police officer struck by car on Cross County

YONKERS – A Westchester County police officer was struck and injured by a car on the Cross County Parkway early Wednesday.

Officer Nicholas Ramundo was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx with leg and arm injuries, said Kieran O'Leary, spokesman for the Westchester County Department of Public Safety. Ramundo was released Wednesday afternoon, O'Leary said.

The incident occurred at 4:04 a.m. on the eastbound Cross County at the split between local and express lanes, police said. Ramundo was investigating an earlier crash when hit by a passing motorist. That motorist was not charged, county police said, though the investigation is ongoing.

The two express lanes were blocked during the morning rush, slowing traffic. The scene was cleared and the lanes reopened shortly before 9 a.m.

Ramundo is the third Westchester County police officer to be hit by a car on local parkways in the past year, O'Leary said.

Officer Paul DeSousa was hit on the Saw Mill River Parkway in January and returned to work shortly after, he said. Officer Scott McMahon was struck on the Hutchinson River Parkway in July and remains out of work because of serious injuries, he said.

"Our officers are always in danger when they are out of the car at accident scenes and other incidents on our parkways," O'Leary said. "We remind all motorists to exercise caution and move over or slow down whenever they are traveling near police vehicles that are stopped with their emergency lights activated."

Staff writer Matt Spillane contributed to this report.