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Motorcycle officer critically injured in accident in Northeast Philly

A motorcycle officer was critically injured in a crash in Northeast Philadelphia.

Investigators are on the scene where Philadelphia motorcycle police officer Andy Chan was critically injured in an accident in the 3300 block of Rhawn Street Jan. 3, 2019.
Investigators are on the scene where Philadelphia motorcycle police officer Andy Chan was critically injured in an accident in the 3300 block of Rhawn Street Jan. 3, 2019.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

A Philadelphia motorcycle police officer was critically injured late Thursday afternoon in a crash with a minivan in the Holmesburg section of the Northeast.

The collision happened about 5:45 p.m. on the 3300 block of Rhawn Street. The officer, a member of the Highway Patrol, was tossed from his bike and was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in critical condition.

At an evening news conference near the hospital, Police Commissioner Richard Ross identified the officer as Andy Chan, 48, a 24-year veteran of the force.

Ross, who was accompanied by Mayor Jim Kenney, FOP president John McNesby, and top police brass, said Chan had “sustained a very significant head injury.”

Chan underwent surgery overnight and Ross said Friday morning that the officer’s condition had remained the same, which was “a good sign” considering the nature of his injuries. Ross said Chan’s surgeon told him the “next 72 hours are critical for Andy.”

On Thursday night, Ross said Chan "is well-known and well-regarded in this police department.”

READ MORE: Officer Andy Chan was assaulted by a murder suspect in 2011.

Ross said the driver of the van that hit Chan was a 79-year-old man who stayed at the scene.

“We don’t have anything right now that suggests that there was anything criminal involved, but of course the investigation is ongoing,” Ross said.

Chan, who is married with three children, was in the operating room, Ross said, adding that “the doctors are hopeful. We are as well.”

Ross said Chan’s family was at the hospital.

Late Thursday night, Chan was transferred out of surgery and into the intensive-care unit, police said.

Chan was riding his police motorcycle east on Rhawn just past Pennypack Park when his motorcycle was struck.

“He was thrown from that motorcycle. He was rushed here by medics” and, after an initial evaluation by doctors, taken into the operating room, Ross said.

“Most of the people standing behind me know Andy. He is one heck of a police officer,” Ross said.

The commissioner said Chan was an affable person and ”very down-to-earth.”

Chan, who was cited for heroism in 2012, rides with the motorcycle unit in the annual Hero Thrill Show.

He has a Twitter account (@cityboy19107) and his last posting was a retweet of a news story that noted that more police officers died in the line of duty in 2018 than in the year before.

The most common cause of death, the article said, was gunfire, and vehicular accidents claimed nearly as many officers' lives.

Staff writer Chris Palmer contributed to this article.