Teen Hits 2 Motorcycle Policemen : Run-in Ruins Driver’s 1st Solo

A Granada Hills teen-ager lived a new driver’s nightmare Saturday night when his first unsupervised trip behind the wheel ended in a collision with two Los Angeles police motorcycle officers. Neither officer was seriously hurt.

The driver, who received his license Tuesday--his 16th birthday--was guiding his parents’ blue compact from Parthenia Street north onto Reseda Boulevard in Northridge at 10:30 p.m. Police said he drove into the officers, who were heading in the opposite direction on Parthenia.

Officer Bobby Hill, 43, came away with a pulled calf muscle. Officer Karl Schott, 43, suffered a mild concussion and other minor injuries, according to Sgt. Ken Staggs. Schott remained at Northridge Hospital Medical Center for observation Sunday night.

The officers’ motorcycles were dented and scratched and there was some major damage to the front and right side of the car, Staggs said. He said fellow officers felt sympathy not only for the injured policemen but also for the youth, whose name was withheld because of his age.

Staggs read from a statement the driver made to police: “I had driver’s training in November. Since I got my permit, I have driven three or four times a week. . . . Both my mom and dad have been teaching me. Today was my first day of driving alone.”

The boy was returning from a tennis game with a 15-year-old friend at the time of the accident.

Neither of the youths was injured. The driver was not cited, but police said they may recommend to the city attorney that he be issued a summons for failing to yield to oncoming traffic when making a left-hand turn.

“Everybody’s been 16 and remembers their first solo ride in a car, and we feel for the kid,” Staggs said. “But . . . we have to enforce the law.”