ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A New York City police officer's wife died, and he and his children were injured, in a four-vehicle crash on Pennsylvania interstate I-78 on Thursday, according to the NYPD and reports.
Six other occupants among the three other vehicles were also injured, according to reports.
Inspector Raymond Rooney, of Goshen, N.Y., was driving a Mazda 6 westbound on the highway around 10:30 a.m., with his wife Linda, 51, daughter Megan, 22, and 15-year-old son, riding as passengers, the Times Herald-Record reported.
The Mazda was near an exit in Allentown, Pa., when a Toyota Camry that had been stopped to change a tire on the center median attempted to pull back into left lane of the westbound traffic, the paper reported, in front of Rooney's vehicle.
Rooney's car smashed into the 1995 Camry, which was driven by 19-year-old Michael Lugo, and had four other male occupants aged 17 to 19, from Philadelphia, sending the Mazda spinning into a 2008 Ford Focus and a tractor-trailer truck.
Linda Rooney was declared dead at the scene of the crash, according to the reports, and Inspector Rooney and his children were being treated at a local hospital.
An 18-year-old woman driving the Focus, and the 24-year-old truck driver, did not suffer serious injuries, and were treated at nearby hospitals, according to the Herald-Record, and Patch.com. The passengers of the Camry suffered a range of injuries from minor to severe, Patch.com reported.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly issued a statement expressing his sympathies to the inspector's family on Friday.
"On behalf of the New York City Police Department, I want to express my deepest condolences to friends and family of Inspector Raymond Rooney," said Kelly. "Our prayers for a swift recovery are with Inspector Rooney and his son and daughter, who were also injured and hospitalized."
Pennsylvania State Police said an investigation into the accident was ongoing Saturday.
