Air Bag May Have Saved Officer’s Life : Accident: The device inflated to protect the patrolman when his cruiser crashed while chasing a motorcycle at high speeds.

An air bag in a new police car is being credited with saving the life of an Orange police officer, who managed to walk away from the mangled wreckage of his vehicle after what was called a “spectacular” accident early Thursday.

“That air bag really saved his life,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson, whose department is investigating the accident. “He was lucky.”

The officer, Keith Marshall, 28, was treated at UCI Medical Center in Orange and released with minor cuts and bruises after the 12:20 a.m. accident.

Police Sgt. Greg McClure said Marshall was driving the 1990 Ford Crown Victoria near the Orange Freeway when he spotted a motorcycle speeding onto the on-ramp. At speeds of up to 120 m.p.h., Marshall followed the motorcycle south on the freeway and through the transition to the westbound Garden Grove Freeway, McClure said.

But a few seconds later, as the chase reached a point just west of the City Drive exit, Marshall’s car hit an asphalt curb. He lost control of the police cruiser, which veered to the right, flew off the freeway embankment and tumbled down about 40 feet to a stop.

“It ran off the freeway end over end,” Johnson said. “It’s back end flew over the front end.”

Police officials said that Marshall, although badly shaken and bruised, was able to walk around and chat with investigators after the accident. Emergency crews equipped with an extrication tool were called to the scene, but the device was not used.

Police said that if the air bag had not inflated, Marshall could have been seriously injured or killed.

Air bags are normally installed in the steering wheel and inflate to protect the driver during a collision. They were included in the latest shipment of police cars for the city of Orange.

Of the department’s 26 police cars, 14 are equipped with air bags, Sgt. Bob Gustafson said.

Meanwhile, Westminster police units caught sight of the motorcycle and chased it through their city, but lost it a short time later.

The motorcycle was later found abandoned in a Westminster cul-de-sac. Police determined that the bike had been stolen in Fullerton.