‘A horrible case.’ 1 dead, Lexington officer seriously hurt after New Circle Road collision

One woman is dead and a Lexington police officer is in serious condition after the two collided in their vehicles early Monday morning, according to Lexington police.

The collision happened at 1:36 a.m. on New Circle Road between Harrodsburg Road and Nicholasville Road, police said. Police were called numerous times about a driver in an SUV going the wrong direction on the inner loop of New Circle Road, which ultimately led to the crash.

Police didn’t find out an officer was involved in the collision until first responders arrived on scene, Sgt. Donnell Gordon said Monday. An officer was dispatched to try to find the driver going the wrong way, but police didn’t think the involved officer was the one responding to the call.

“We believe that it was at the end of her shift and she just happened to be in the area, possibly heading home,” Gordon said of the officer’s involvement. “At this point in time, like I said, we don’t believe that she was actually involved in the investigation of locating the vehicle.”

The 38-year-old woman driving the SUV and the officer were both taken to a hospital. The woman driving the SUV died at the hospital and was later identified as Angelina Sue Raad, a Winchester resident, according to the Fayette County coroner’s office.

In a news conference Monday morning, a police spokesman said the officer’s condition was still serious. Police didn’t release the name of the officer involved, but Gordon later said she had been with the department since March 2017.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to happen from this point on as far as MRIs and things like that, so it’s going to be awhile before we get an update,” Gordon said.

The crash “appeared to be a very violent collision,” Gordon said, with severe damage to the vehicles involved. The roof of the police cruiser had to be removed to extricate the officer, he said. The driver of the SUV had to be extricated too, he said.

Police have “no idea” why the driver of the SUV was reportedly going the wrong way on New Circle, but hope that will be determined through investigation. It was also too early to tell if the SUV driver was intoxicated, Gordon said.

Gordon called this “a horrible case” due to both the driver’s death and the officer’s injuries. He said police are hopeful that people will call them if they saw the other driver prior to the accident or knew why she may have been driving the wrong direction.

The Lexington Police Department’s Collision Reconstruction Unit was still investigating the crash. The outer loop and inner loop were shut down for several hours Monday morning before both sides reopened around 9:40 a.m. Police apologized for the inconvenience but said the closure was necessary for the investigation and safety.

“We understand that a lot of times when we do have an accident, people want to turn to look,” Gordon said. “And that – at that point in time – causes other accidents, so it’s just safer to close it down so that way all the officers and all the units out there can work and just make sure it’s a safe environment.”

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Lexington Police Collision Reconstruction Unit at (859) 258-3663. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers by calling (859) 253-2020, online at www.bluegrasscrimestoppers.com, or through the P3 tips app available at www.p3tips.com.