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Greensboro Police Officer Dies In Crash During Robbery Investigation

Greensboro Police Officer Jared Franks died while pursuing a suspect Saturday night. Courtesy: Greensboro Police Department

One Greensboro police officer died and another was injured in a crash Saturday during a robbery investigation.

The patrolmen were attempting to locate a vehicle driven by the possible robbery suspect when their police cars crashed. A Greensboro Police Department news release says no civilian vehicles were involved.

As a result of the collision, both officers were taken to a nearby hospital, where one of them died from his injuries.

He was later identified publicly as Jared William Franks. The 24-year-old officer joined the police department in 2016.

The second officer was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.

This is the first time in 17 years a Greensboro Police Department officer has died in the line of duty.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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