Off-Duty Officer Held in Hit-Run Incident
An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after hitting a California Highway Patrol officer, then fleeing, authorities said Thursday.
Officer Paul Lopez, a 15-year veteran assigned to the LAPD’s 77th Street Division, was booked Wednesday night at Van Nuys jail on charges of driving under the influence, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest, said CHP Officer Lou Aviles.
The incident began about 8 p.m. when CHP officers had stopped traffic for an accident on the northbound Hollywood Freeway near Vineland Avenue. They noticed a driver trying to get around the bottleneck by using the right shoulder.
“One officer motioned for the driver to stop,” Aviles said. “The driver did not follow the officers’s directive and accelerated toward him.” The CHP officer tried to run out the way, but was slightly injured when the car hit him in the side.
The 37-year-old suspect got off the freeway at Vineland Avenue, turned onto Aqua Vista Street before coming to a stop behind traffic, Aviles said, where he was arrested by CHP officers.
A field sobriety test measured Lopez’s blood-alcohol level at 0.20%, more than twice the legal limit in California, Aviles said.
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