NILES, Mich. — REAL News Michiana is digging into the circumstances that followed an incident where a City of Niles firetruck hit an SUV and drove off. According to the driver of the SUV, Niles Police Officers ended up pulling guns on her husband as he attempted to flag them down for help. She also claims the Public Safety Director, who is in charge of both the police and fire, is ignoring her report and requests for assistance.
According to the accident report, on October 17th, Krystal McCully was sitting at the intersection of Oak and 13th when a firetruck making a left turn hit her vehicle. You can view the report below.
“I was in the turn lane, two firetrucks came through with their lights on. The first one made the turn around me with no problem. The second one clipped (my front fender and bumper) with the backside of the truck.” McCully said. “I was boxed in (with a car to the rear and side). I had nowhere to go.”
McCully says the trucks kept going. She then called her husband for assistance.
“He called the fire department first and nobody answered.” She said. “So he got on the road and saw a police car. He chased them down for help. They pulled their guns on him. They said he was coming at them too fast or something like that.”
McCully tells RNM her vehicle is still drivable, so she went to the fire department where she says nobody was around. She then went to the police department where she met with her husband and an officer to take a report.
“He (the officer) just seemed to be downplaying the whole thing.” She said. “He was saying ‘at least your car is still drivable,’ and ‘they probably didn’t even know they hit you,’ and ‘it was more important they get to their emergency than stop anyway.'”
However, when McCully asked what the emergency was, she claims she was not given an answer. Instead, she was told to contact Public Safety Director, James Millin.
“It’s been more than a week and I still have not been able to get in touch with him.” She said. “I just want the city to pay for the damage. It’s $2,400. It seems like they’re trying to brush me off and not pay.”
RNM Reached out to Millin with the following questions. As of publication, he has not responded.
I’m inquiring about the attached accident. I have been told the victim in this case has not been contacted by the city or PSD since filing the report. I’m also told officers drew weapons on her husband when he was flagging down law enforcement for help.
I’m reaching out for a statement. I’m also requesting the report from the call the fire department was responding to when the accident occurred. Were any policies or protocols broken by the first responders?
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