Officer in Chase Is Struck by Car; Freeway Snarled
Rush-hour commuters were caught in a massive traffic jam on the Hollywood Freeway Friday night when three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes at Barham Boulevard were closed for more than two hours after a police officer was hit while chasing a hit-run suspect on foot.
The California Highway Patrol said the unidentified officer was hit while running across freeway lanes after a fleeing driver, who was later arrested. The officer was hospitalized with a broken leg.
The incident began shortly before 7 p.m. when 77th Street officers witnessed a car smash into three other cars on the northbound Harbor Freeway. When they tried to pull over the driver, police said he sped onto the Hollywood Freeway, crashed into a car near Barham Boulevard, then fled on foot.
A second driver in an unrelated vehicle hit the officer, and that motorist also ran from the scene, the CHP said.
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