Officer Hurt as Patrol Car Plunges 30 Feet off Freeway

An Anaheim police officer was in serious condition with injuries suffered when his patrol car plunged 30 feet off the Riverside Freeway early Wednesday and landed upside down, officials said.

The 40-year-old officer, whose name was not released, was heading west toward State College Boulevard when he swerved out of his lane to avoid some debris, Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said. The officer was returning to the police station at the end of his patrol shift in Anaheim Hills when the 2:30 a.m. crash occurred, Vargas said.

“He apparently lost control of the car and crashed into the guardrail,” Vargas said. “The car launched over head-on, flipped onto its roof and pancaked on State College below.”

California Highway Patrol officials said they received reports that two other cars struck the debris--although it was unclear what was littering the roadway.

“When we got there we weren’t able to locate any debris,” California Highway Patrol Officer Raul Malfavon said. “We’re not sure if it was pushed aside with everybody hitting it or even what it was.”

Several people who witnessed the crash stopped to help the officer, including a woman who identified herself as an off-duty paramedic and a truck driver who stood by with a fire extinguisher, Malfavon said. It took about 20 minutes to free the officer from the wreckedcar after paramedics arrived, he said.

The officer, a 17-year veteran of the department, was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he is being treated for a fractured pelvis, collapsed lung and hip, back and head injuries, Vargas said.

“They’re not life-threatening but they are serious,” Vargas said of the injuries. “He’ll be recovering there for some time.”