Two Los Angeles Police Department officers were hospitalized in serious condition Tuesday after their patrol vehicle was struck by another vehicle on the Orange (57) Freeway in Fullerton, and that motorist was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI, authorities said.
The officers were injured around 2 a.m. as they searched for an object they believed had been thrown from a vehicle by a suspect who had been arrested following a pursuit earlier in the morning, according to the LAPD.
An Infiniti driven by a woman in her mid-20s slammed into the rear of their patrol car, resulting in “significant” injuries to the officers, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said at a news conference at UCI Medical Center in Orange.
The woman. who suffered “moderate” injuries, was arrested on suspicion of DUI, according to the California Highway Patrol. Her name was not immediately released.
The officers were part of a group of law enforcement units from the LAPD’s Newton Division that began pursing the suspect in a stolen vehicle near downtown Los Angeles just before midnight, Moore said.
At some point during the pursuit, the suspect drove onto the Orange Freeway, and along the way apparently threw something out of the vehicle, police said. The suspect was eventually arrested, and was being held on crimes including an outstanding felony warrant, Moore said. His name was not immediately released.
“Two uniformed officers went back along the path of the pursuit, in an effort to locate … whatever it was that was thrown from the vehicle,” Moore said. “As they drive northbound … coming up on Yorba Linda (Boulevard), they were violently struck by another motorist. … They are expected to make a full recovery.”
The CHP issued a SigAlert for the northbound 57 Freeway and Yorba Linda Boulevard and closed all lanes of the freeway in both directions as they investigated the crash.