Deputies on Airport Duty Struck, Injured by Cars

Two Orange County sheriff’s deputies were injured Tuesday when a driver apparently lost control of a rented car and plowed into a line of vehicles as the deputies were making security checks at John Wayne Airport, authorities said.

Sammy Black, a 22-year-veteran, had both legs broken in several places. Christopher Hancock, who has been with the department two years, had cuts and bruises, officials said. Both were taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where Hancock was expected to be released late Tuesday.

The deputies were searching the trunks of rental cars lined up single file to be returned about 9:45 a.m. when a car driven by George Mack of Salem, Ore., slammed into the rear vehicle, pinning Black between two bumpers, police said. The car he was inspecting then slid into the car in front of it, striking Hancock, who was between them.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the sheriff’s department. “They want to see if there was anything wrong with the car or if [Mack] accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake.”

Mack, 80, on vacation with his wife, was allowed to return to Oregon, Amormino said.