2000 Grand Am Crash

I am investigating a legal case wherein police rammed the right front wheel causing it to break off from it's top attachment point. (The idler arm??) They claim the driver attempted to run over the police officer after the crash. The question is will the left wheel operate with the right wheel disabled ? I can email a photo if anyone wants to look at it.

There are no idler arms on a grand am. Are you sure its not a outer tie rod. I don't exactly understand what the question is. If the tie rod is broken only one wheel will turn with the wheel, the other will stay in whatever position it is in rendering the vehicle inoperable.

You might want to post the pics and clarify your question.

Sorry..I'm new here and don't know how to post the pic. I clicked on the insert image above but it ask for a URL and the pic is on my C drive. ??

The pic is in the Gallery under General Automotive with the name 2000_Grand_Am_crash_wheel.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=503/5903422000_Grand_Am_crash_wheel-med.jpg

You'll need to replace the knuckle, strut, lower control arm, brake hose, wheel, tire, drive axle, inner tie rod end, and out tie rod end to start! Basically everything on the right side. Then hope there is no unibody damage which there could be!!

Thank you so much for your interest and replys to this. This is not my car. It belonged to a young man who was shot and killed by undercover police after they crashed into him. They contend that after the crash they got out of their vehicle and approached the Pontiac from the front at which point the driver suppossidly accellerated in an attempt to run over them. Other forensic evidence doesn't bear this out. I'm trying to determine if the Pontiac would be capable of moving forward after this type of damage with an Arcadia SUV wedged against it.

In that condition, no the car will not move. These cars do not have a solid axle in the front, but an open differential in the transaxle. One wheel will spin independantly of the other wheel. The driver's wheel will not spin, the passenger side will spin with the cv shaft out of the transmission as it appears in the picture.

I agree, if the drive axle was in place than the car would still be able to move forward. I assume that the photo was taken after the tow. If the axle pulled out as part of the towing process than its was deffinetely possible for the car to move. If the drive axle was not in place as a result of the collision than the car would not be able to move.