Baltimore police have concluded their investigation into the October accident that killed a city police officer whose cruiser slammed into the back of fire engine.

The report concludes that Officer Thomas Portz Jr., 32, was most likely distracted by a film crew using the opposite lanes of U.S. 40 to record the final scene of an independent movie. The report says the officer was speeding at 71 mph (in a 50 mph zone) and was not wearing his seat belt.

Photo was taken by The Sun’s Barbara Haddock Taylor.

From our news story:

Just before the accident, the city Fire Department received a call for a sick person in the area and firefighters on Engine 8 had stopped in the eastbound lane of U.S. 40, near the Stricker Street footbridge, and were looking for the source of the call.

Portz also was driving east on the U.S. 40, and the report concludes he was probably looking at the film crew and didn’t see the stopped fire engine. Portz was not responding to an emergency call at the time. Police identified the firefighter driving the engine only as a 41-year-old male.

The report says Portz had been speeding at 71 mph — the speed limit is 50 mph on that portion of roadway — but slammed on is brakes 2.5 seconds before impact. Detective Patty A. Baur, a traffic collision reconstruction expert with the police crash team, said in the report that the police car was traveling 62 mph a split-second before impact.

The Baltimore Sun’s Michael Dresser, who writes about transportation issues and writes the Getting There blog, has discussed this accident and police driving in general.

Baltimore Crime Beat