Driver, Two CHP Officers Injured in Freeway Crash

Three people were injured, including two California Highway Patrol officers, when a suspected drunk driver struck a vehicle the officers had stopped on the Riverside Freeway early Friday, CHP officials said.

The officers were preparing the vehicle for towing after arresting the driver, who was wanted in Riverside on a warrant, when the crash occurred about 1:40 a.m., the CHP said. The man’s female passenger was also arrested.

Officers Greg Dixon, 26, and Carla Eldridge, 29, were taken to Kaiser Permanente’s Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim, where they were treated for minor injuries to the knees and released, hospital officials said.

Stephanie Grippi, 35, of Anaheim, allegedly the driver who caused the crash, was also taken to Kaiser Hospital. Grippi, whom the CHP said was not wearing a seat belt, sustained facial cuts, chest injuries and a broken leg. She was later transferred to the jail ward at Western Medical Center-Anaheim.

Grippi was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving, the CHP said.

The man and woman the CHP officers had stopped in the northbound lanes of the Riverside Freeway west of Coal Canyon Road were booked at the Orange County Jail, the CHP said.

They were identified as Ricky Dewbre, 19, and Sharon Leno, 40, both of Riverside. According to the CHP, Dewbre was wanted on a warrant and allegedly was in possession of stolen property. Leno was also booked on suspicion of possession of stolen property.