Orange : Motorcyclist Hurt While Fleeing CHP on Freeway

A 17-year-old dirt bike driver was reported in stable condition Wednesday at Chapman General Hospital after having been thrown off his vehicle on the 55 Freeway in Orange following a crash. The California Highway Patrol said the young man was fleeing a CHP officer at the time of the accident, about 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The victim was identified as Robert Ojeda of Placentia. The CHP said Ojeda suffered “moderate injuries,” including a compound fracture of the right leg.

The accident occurred just north of Chapman Avenue, the CHP said. Officials said CHP Officer Joe Morrison was chasing the youth on suspicion of a motor vehicle registration violation. The youth refused to stop, the CHP said, and at one point turned around on the freeway and headed south, against traffic.

Morrison got out of his car and attempted to catch the fleeing dirt biker on foot as he wound through stopped rush-hour traffic on the freeway, the CHP said. The bike driver hit a van head-on and was tossed 50 feet through the air, landing on the shoulder of the freeway, the CHP said. He was taken to Chapman General, where a nursing supervisor said he was in stable condition.