A fiery explosion rocked the early morning hours in California on Thursday. Two state Highway Patrol officers were critically injured and a third police injury is also being reported. One “civilian” is listed as “hurt.” The allegedly intoxicated driver who rear-ended the patrol cruiser at a zippy 95 miles per hour does not appear to be injured.
Patrol cruiser exploded
Initial reports on this fast breaking story indicate that the officers’ patrol cruiser “burst into flames upon collision.” Debris were scattered everywhere and a “woman who was driving the car that struck the officers is in custody.” The cops parked in the HOV lane with flashers on to assist with an accident.
The speeding driver apparently never saw them. She certainly didn’t even tap the breaks. Experts say her vehicle was moving about 95 mph when it plowed into the back of the highway patrol car.
The 105 freeway near the town of Downey was closed eastbound for several hours as police investigated. The CHP officers got there just after midnight, April 28, to assist in another crash “involving a disabled vehicle that caused the closure of the carpool and number one lanes on the eastbound side of the freeway near Lakewood Boulevard.”
They parked the cruiser and were doing their thing. Around 1:30 a.m., the officers were diverting traffic off the freeway until dispatch got another call “regarding an officer in distress.”
As reported by investigators, “a woman allegedly drove right through the safety flares and right into the CHP patrol vehicle that was parked on the side of the freeway.” The cruiser “erupted into flames upon impact.”
At the time, two CHP officers were inside the patrol car, while “the third, who was the most severely injured, was standing outside the vehicle.” updates note that the fourth described injury “may have been from the initial crash.”
Critically injured officer
One of the officers “was so critically injured, that other officers at the scene did not wait for an ambulance to arrive and loaded him into a patrol car.” The cruiser rushed to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where medical staff advise “he was in extreme pain and was being evaluated for fractures.”
There’s a really good chance he may be in surgery by now. The other officers sustained “moderate to major injuries.”
Witnesses say the woman was speeding prior to the crash. That’s putting it mildly. according to Robert Martinez, the driver “applied no brakes and went straight into the CHP car. All four wheels off the ground. That car flipped.” He was at the scene.
The cruiser “stayed on the ground.” And shortly after “went up in flames.” He was amazed to see the woman walk “out of her flipped car,” as “an officer was dragged out of the burning squad car.”
The driver appeared wobbly after hitting the cruiser like a meteor but was probably intoxicated as well. She was detained on “suspicion of driving under the influence.” Good Samaritans at the scene “helped the two officers who were inside the patrol car get out of the vehicle.”
A police spokesman relates that “one of the officers was a 16-year veteran of the department, and the other was a female officer with the agency for less than a year.” No information “was immediately available on the most seriously injured officer.“
