Crash During Police Chase Hurts 2
An off-duty Los Angeles police reserve officer was injured Thursday night when a driver suspected of being drunk ran a red light in Woodland Hills while being chased by a motorcycle officer and slammed into the reserve officer’s car at 80 m.p.h., police said.
The injured officer, Linda Sodama, was listed in serious condition with neck and back injuries at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Officer James Williamson said.
The other driver, identified as Robert Neill, 23, of Canoga Park, was in stable condition and was to be transferred from the Northridge hospital to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center prison ward, police said.
Neill was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and evading arrest.
The crash occurred at about 8 p.m. on Fallbrook Avenue near Victory Boulevard, police said.
Williamson said the involvement of Sodama, who is assigned to the Valley Traffic Division, was coincidental.
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