Three California Highway Patrol officers were injured Thursday when an SUV crashed into a patrol vehicle in Southern California.
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At 1:24 a.m., CHP officers were called to the Lakewood Boulevard off-ramp of the 105 Freeway in Downey after receiving a request for assistance from an officer, CHP Officer Patrick Kimball reported.
ABC 7 reported three officers and one civilian were taken to the hospital.
Witnesses told officers the driver was speeding when what appeared on television footage to be a light-colored SUV slammed into the patrol car, causing the CHP vehicle to burst into flames.
CHP officers were responding to a separate crash on the freeway near Lakewood Boulevard when the SUV plowed into their patrol vehicle, according to KTLA5 .
CHP Officer Kevin Tao told KTLA5 that two officers were in the patrol vehicle when the crash occurred and another officer was standing outside the vehicle. The two officers inside the vehicle suffered moderate injuries, but the third officer had serious injuries. All three were taken to a hospital.
The SUV was traveling at high speed when it crashed into the vehicle, according to witnesses. The driver was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI, KTLA5 reported.
"The driver did not apply brakes and went straight into the CHP patrol car with all four wheels off the ground," Robert Martinez told CBS 2.
CBS 2 footage showed a woman in handcuffs being escorted to a CHP vehicle. Details of the apparent arrest were not released by the CHP, which said only that a person had been detained.
At least one officer was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood in an unknown condition, Kimball confirmed.
ABC 7 reported three CHP officers and one civilian were taken to the hospital. The condition of the driver was unknown.
The crash closed all lanes of the eastbound 105 Freeway while the CHP conducted its investigation, a closure that was continuing about seven hours afterward.
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