APD Officer Injured in Glenn Highway Crash Returns Home

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage police officer who was seriously injured in a car wreck while on the job last month returned home to Anchorage Thursday night.

Friends and about 20 police officers began clapping as Officer Jennifer Pierce was wheeled off a plane -- by the same medics who saved her -- into the lobby of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Pierce was driving inbound along the Glenn near the McCarrey Overpass at about 3 a.m. on July 31, when an outbound BMW driven by 21-year-old Jariss Black crossed the median and two lanes of traffic then side-swiped her patrol cruiser.

Since then Pierce has been Outside for treatment to repair her pelvis, which was broken.

Pierce told reporters at the airport that she's ready to get back to work, but that she still has several months of physical therapy.

"It's amazing, it's great to come home with all this support," Pierce said. "It's a great way to get started to heal."