7 Hurt as Ambulance, Fire Truck Collide

Seven people were injured Wednesday when a fire truck and an ambulance, both speeding to aid an injured police officer, collided at a busy Mid-City intersection.

Four firefighters, two Hartson’s paramedics and a doctor who was riding in the ambulance were hospitalized after the spectacular crash, which occurred shortly before noon at 43rd Street and University Avenue.

Hartson’s spokeswoman Sharon Henry said both vehicles, emergency sirens blaring, apparently raced into the intersection at the same time and that the fire engine broadsided the ambulance. The impact caused the ambulance to spin around and ricochet backward across a sidewalk, through a brick retaining wall and into the plate glass window of a vacant drugstore at the southeast corner of the intersection, Henry said.

“The ambulance was demolished,” she said.

Overnight Observation

Paramedic Eric Mandler was admitted to Sharp Memorial Hospital for overnight observation because of neck and shoulder pain, Henry said. Paramedic John Pringle was treated for neck strain and shoulder pain at Mercy Hospital and was released. Dr. Michael Mozetti, a Navy physician, suffered a cut on the forehead and was also treated at Mercy.

The names of the injured firefighters were not released, pending the notification of relatives, but most had only minor injuries, said a Fire Department spokesman.

“Everything right now is still speculation as to how it happened and who is at fault,” spokesman Jon McDonald said.

While police were dealing with the collision at the busy intersection, another ambulance was dispatched to the scene where San Diego Police Officer Jeffrey Durbin lay injured after having been dragged down the street by a car driven by a suspected thief.

Durbin and his partner, trainee Dale Flamand, were responding to a burglary call in the 3000 block of 44th Street when they noticed a car idling in front of the house where the burglary had been reported, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. The car had no license plates and its front window had been broken out, indicating it could have been stolen, Robinson said.

As Durbin approached the car, he reached inside to turn off the ignition, but the driver grabbed his arm and drove off, Robinson said. Durbin was dragged 30 or 40 feet, Robinson said. Flamand, unable to stop the car from the passenger side, called for assistance.

Durbin was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center for treatment of cuts, bruises and non-serious head, neck and back injuries, Sgt. Jim Long said. He was treated and released later in the evening.

Police conducted an extensive search of the area on foot and by helicopter and found the car, which turned out to have been stolen, abandoned several blocks away in the 3500 block of 44th Street, Robinson said.

The suspect, however, escaped. Police spokesman Dave Cohen said police detained a woman for questioning who had been in the car but was dropped off shortly before the incident.

“She has been providing us with some information, so we have an idea, at least, of who we’re looking for,” Cohen said.

The suspect, who was not named by police, was still at large Wednesday night. He was described as Filipino, with a mustache, 22 to 25 years old, about 5-foot-10, with a stocky build.