Two LAPD officers seriously hurt in freeway crash

Two Los Angeles police officers were seriously injured this morning when their patrol car crashed and rolled over on the Ronald Reagan Freeway (California 118) in Granada Hills, where most westbound lanes remain closed as investigators search the scene.

The male and female officers, who belong to a crime suppression unit based downtown, were westbound on their way home to Devonshire at the time of the crash at 2:08 a.m. near the White Oak Avenue exit, according to police and California Highway Patrol.

The male officer was thrown from the patrol car and suffered head trauma, said Officer Norma Eisenman, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman.

Police were still investigating what caused the crash. Several other cars were at the crash scene, and CHP investigators were trying to determine whether they were involved, said Officer Francisco Villalobos, a CHP spokesman.

No other drivers at the scene were injured or taken to the hospital, Eisenman said.

The injured officers were taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills soon after the crash. The female officer was in stable condition this morning, the male officer in surgery, Eisenman said.

After the crash, the CHP closed all westbound lanes of the freeway at Balboa Boulevard, diverting drivers westbound on Rinaldi Street and back onto the freeway at Reseda Boulevard, Villalobos said. As of about 6:30 a.m., the CHP had reopened the westbound carpool and fast lanes, and Villalobos said they planned to reopen all westbound lanes by about 7:15 a.m.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com