Hamilton Officer OK After Cruiser Damaged in Crash

A Hamilton police officer is expected to be OK after he swerved to avoid an animal and crashed the cruiser he was driving while on patrol on Wednesday night.

Officer Joe Achadinha was taken to a medical facility by ambulance to be checked out but he was not believed to be injured.

The crash happened on Miles River Road, north of Reinhalter Way, just before 10 p.m. No other vehicles were involved.

At about 11:15 p.m., the cruiser was being taken away from the crash scene on a Paul’s Towing flatbed. Both Hamilton firefighters and Wenham police were also on scene, in addition to Hamilton police.

Both Hamilton and Wenham officers on the scene would not allow any pictures to be taken of the damaged cruiser.

“He avoided an animal and slid off the road,” said Hamilton Police Lt. Scott Janes, adding he believed the animal was a deer but the crash remained under investigation. Janes said further details would be released on Thursday morning.

The passenger side of the marked cruiser suffered significant damage and the wheel appeared to be bent of the axle. Based on the damage to the cruiser and a mark on a roadside tree, the cruiser was headed south at the time of the crash.

The road was wet and it was foggy at the time of the crash.