CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer is in critical condition after he crashed his patrol car shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Officer Joseph Willinsky remains at Carolinas Medical Center. Police sources said he has severe head injuries after the accident on Fairview Road near South Park Mall.

“We are very hopeful and prayerful that he can pull through this,” said Chief Rodney Monroe Wednesday afternoon.

---

• IMAGES: Officer Critically Injured In South Charlotte Crash

---

Monroe said Willinsky was responding to a car break-in call at the Strawberry Hill Apartments on Providence Road when he crashed on Fairview Road in south Charlotte near SouthPark Mall. Police believe his patrol car flipped and landed on its wheels before catching fire.

Willinsky was thrown from the vehicle and another driver called 911 at 3:45 a.m. when he saw Willinsky lying near the wreckage.

“We don’t know the speed,” Monroe said.

He said he was not releasing any other details on the crash, but tire tracks show where the officer’s vehicle may have skidded off the road onto a sidewalk and into a cleared lot before hitting a ditch, which likely caused the car to flip.

An accident reconstruction team closed Fairview Road for several hours during rush hour Wednesday morning while they investigated the accident.

Monroe said they were looking for someone riding a bicycle who may have actually seen the accident happen. Officers are speaking with that person.

Willinsky, who is 23, has worked for the department’s Providence Division since September 2008.