YOUNGSTOWN — A police report released Wednesday by the Youngstown Police Department confirms that the two women who were seen injured on the ground in a parking lot at Oak Hill Avenue and Warren Avenue early May 18 were in a car that was struck by a Youngtown police cruiser.

The report states that Youngstown police officer Craig Whitfield was traveling south on Oak Hill Avenue and hit the back of a blue 2023 Kia Rio that also was traveling south on Oak Hill Avenue.

The cruiser came to rest on the right side of the road near the Warren Avenue intersection. It had damage to its driver’s side front corner.

The Rio spun around and hit the side of Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church on Oak Hill Avenue.

The report states that Whitfield and two people in the Kia Rio sustained suspected minor injuries and were all taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. The driver of the Kia Rio was a woman, 34, and the passenger was a woman, 65. The crash took place at 8:10 a.m., the report states. It does not indicate that anyone was cited for any offenses in the crash. Under contributing circumstances, the report indicates that Whitfield was “swerving to avoid.”

The report does not state any reason for the crash happening, but a witness to the crash told The Vindicator on Wednesday that Whitfield’s cruiser was one of four police cruisers that were traveling south on Oak Hill in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle when the crash happened.

The witness, Maurice Rivers, said he was behind the Kia Rio. When he heard the police cars coming up from behind, he pulled over to the right and onto the sidewalk.

But as the cruiser tried to get around Rivers and the Kia Rio, it struck the Kia Rio on the right rear corner and swung the Kia Rio around.

The Kia Rio went out of control and went into the church parking lot and hit the wall of the church, Rivers said. Both women “fell out of the car” before it hit the building, he said.

The Vindicator took photos of the aftermath of the crash, and Rivers was seen in the photos. He went into the Kia Rio and gave the older woman her cell phone at one point. Rivers said the crash knocked out the teeth of one of the women.

The cruiser was the second of the four cruisers, Rivers said. The first cruiser passed through that area without hitting any vehicles and kept going, as did the two cruisers that were behind the crash, Rivers said. Whitfield stayed behind with the women. Rivers said he could tell Whitfield had an injury.

Youngstown police have not said what type of chase they were engaged in at the time of the crash.