Driver Who Hit Officer Faces Felony Charges

An Arleta man accused of being drunk when he smashed his car into a Los Angeles police motorcycle officer at a sobriety checkpoint and then ran over him was charged Tuesday with five felony charges.

Juan Hinojosa, 24, appeared in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Tuesday but his arraignment on charges of driving under the influence, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of hit-and-run driving was delayed until today.

Authorities said Hinojosa had a blood alcohol level of at least 0.21%--nearly three times the legal limit--when he ran over Jeffrey Williams, who was stationed at a sobriety checkpoint early Sunday morning.

With the red lights flashing on his motorcycle, Williams was escorting an elderly person who became confused inside the checkpoint, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen.

When Hinojosa, who was traveling north on Van Nuys Boulevard near Nordhoff Street, saw officials stopping southbound drivers, he accelerated to at least 55 m.p.h. and struck Williams “so hard he breaks the back wheel of the motorcycle,” Cohen said.

Williams was thrown into the air and landed on Hinojosa’s 1980 Toyota, shattering the windshield, police said. The impact caused Hinojosa’s car to spin out, and Williams fell from the vehicle, according to witnesses.

Hinojosa then made a U-turn and ran over Williams, Cohen said, adding that this act constituted a second assault and a second hit-and-run.

Williams, who is hospitalized in serious condition, suffered a lacerated liver, six broken ribs and a punctured lung that has necessitated putting him on a respirator, Cohen said.

Hinojosa is being held in County Jail in lieu of $105,000 bail.