Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Officer Hurt in Crash Released From Hospital
A police officer whose patrol car was demolished in a crash Tuesday night was released from the hospital Wednesday.
Officer Donald Fox’s car, westbound on McFadden Avenue near Mohawk Street at 5:45 p.m., collided with a Mazda with such force that it was deflected off a block wall and smashed against a utility pole, Lt. Hugh Mooney said.
Firefighters took more than 30 minutes to free Fox from the mass of tangled metal. The police officer suffered bruises to the chest and head.
Fox had been responding to a call about a man wielding a gun. Mooney said the man turned out to be a 16-year-old Santa Ana youth playing with a replica gun.
The other driver involved in the accident, Eduardo Ramirez, 19, of Santa Ana, fled the scene on foot, Mooney said. He was arrested a short time later when he called paramedics for help. He was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run driving and taken to UCI Medical Center with cuts and bruises, officials said.
Fox was treated at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center.
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