Motorcycle Officer Dies After Crash : Accident: Police believe patrolman was chasing a suspected traffic violator when he broadsided a car and suffered massive head injuries.

A veteran Los Angeles motorcycle officer died Thursday of injuries he suffered a day earlier in a collision at a busy Van Nuys intersection while chasing a suspect.

Officer Raymond A. (Skip) Messerly Jr., 42, of Acton was taken off life support systems about 12:45 p.m. at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. He died of massive trauma to the head and neck, said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Art Holmes.

“It tears you up,” said Deputy Police Chief Mark A. Kroeker. “We just lost a really fine, fine officer. He didn’t say much. He just went around and did his job the best he could.”

Police believe Messerly was chasing a suspected traffic violator on Victory Boulevard about 8 a.m. Wednesday when he rammed his motorcycle into the driver’s side of a car in front of him that was turning left onto Sepulveda Boulevard. He was thrown over the car and into the curb 30 feet away.

According to a preliminary investigation, the 12-year department veteran probably swerved into the wrong lane to avoid heavy traffic. “All the evidence supports the position that he was on the wrong side of the roadway,” Officer Steven Cooper said.

The driver of the car, London Crouch, suffered minor injuries. An investigation is continuing into the cause of the accident, but police said they believe Crouch, 24, of Los Angeles, did nothing wrong.

Fellow officers said Messerly was known as an aggressive, dedicated traffic cop. A highly decorated Vietnam veteran, Messerly is survived by his wife, Marie, and six children, including 11-year-old triplets.

Lt. Charlie Kunz of the Valley Traffic Division described him as a “hard-working family man who always worked side jobs to provide his family with the best in life.”