2 cops hurt when car crashes into their vehicle

Two cops are seriously injured - but lucky to be alive - after a car filled with cowards t-boned their vehicle yesterday in Southwest Philadelphia, then ripped the license plate off their own car and fled the scene on foot.

Around 1:05 a.m., two officers from the 12th District, headquartered at 65th Street and Woodland Avenue, were in one of the department's new marked Chevy Tahoe units on Woodland near 68th when they were hit by men in a Monte Carlo who ran a red light at the intersection, said Lt. Ray Evers, police spokesman.

As a result of the crash, the police car hit a fence and then a traffic light and the Monte Carlo hit a parked vehicle, police said.

The men in the Monte Carlo - police aren't sure if there were two or three - then jumped out of their car, tore their license plate off and fled on foot, Evers said. A person was stopped, but later released because there wasn't enough evidence to hold him, he said.

Taking the license plate off might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but Evers said that there was plenty of other evidence in the car.

The police officers - the 27-year-old driver of the vehicle, Antoinette Bethel, and David Barbour, 33 - had to be freed from the Tahoe, Evers said.

Both were taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with serious injuries and were visited by the department's top brass, including Commissioner Ramsey, Evers said.

Bethel, a 4-year veteran, suffered a broken femur and jaw, lost several teeth and had a concussion and internal bleeding, police said. Barbour, a 7-year veteran, had internal bleeding and a concussion, according to police.

"They are lucky they were in a Tahoe, it's very fortunate," Evers said. "If it was an Impala, it could have been a completely different story."

Evers said that the department just received 60 pursuit-rated Tahoes specifically made for law enforcement. He said that the price difference between the Tahoes and Impalas is negligible compared to the safety it offers police.