Mayor Justin Bibb’s driver acted “outside of” city policies when he turned on the SUV’s police lights before driving into an intersection and colliding with another car, Police Chief Annie Todd said Friday. 

The crash happened Thursday morning at the corner of East 12th Street and Superior Avenue. Surveillance video published by News 5 shows the mayor’s car flashing its emergency lights before running a red light headed westbound. A van driving south t-boned the mayor’s black Ford Expedition a moment later. 

Bibb, his driver and the other motorist were physically OK, City Hall said in a news release. The mayor and his driver were taken to the hospital as a precaution. 

Witnesses told News 5 that the mayor’s car appeared to be at fault. Todd’s statement, issued to media Friday, was the first acknowledgement of error by the city. 

“At the time, the mayor’s driver was engaged in emergency response driving,” Todd said in the statement. “Preliminary information indicates that the lights were activated outside of the emergency response driving policy.”

Todd’s statement said the case remains under investigation. Discipline for violating car policies ranges from a verbal warning to a three-day suspension. 

Cleveland has disciplined police in the past for misusing emergency lights. Last year, a patrol officer received a two-day suspension after he ran his emergency lights and siren while speeding, though he wasn’t dispatched to a call.