Sheriff’s Deputy Hurt When SUV Hits His Motorcycle

Traffic accidents on either side of Ventura County snarled traffic Thursday morning and injured two people, one of them an on-duty sheriff’s deputy.

About 7:40 a.m., motorcycle Deputy Mike Sahlman was attempting to stop a speeding driver on Avenida de Los Arboles when a sport utility vehicle struck him near Wildwood Elementary School in Thousand Oaks.

The SUV, driven by Robin Buell, 55, pulled in front of Sahlman while trying to turn left into the school parking lot, said Sgt. Patti Salas, a traffic investigator in the sheriff’s East County Division.

Sahlman, who was thrown from his motorcycle, was taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center for treatment of a broken left hip socket, Salas said. Buell was not injured.

California Highway Patrol officers closed Avenida de Los Arboles at Canna Street until about 11:30 a.m. No citations were issued.

Soon after 8 a.m., CHP officers responded to an accident on the Ventura Freeway south of the Victoria Street onramp in Ventura.

Officer Steve Reid said that Rodrigo Martinez, 22, of Ojai lost control of his pickup truck while heading south in the fast lane, causing him to swerve to the right into a compact car.

Martinez, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected when his truck ran off the highway and landed in an embankment, Reid said. The truck rolled downhill and caught fire.

Martinez was taken to Ventura County Medical Center with back injuries. The driver of the compact car, Sean Freyne, 32, of Ventura was not injured, the officer said.

Officers closed the freeway’s slow lane for about an hour during rush-hour traffic, causing a backup for at least 2 1/2 hours.

“It was horrendous,” Reid said.

No citations were issued in the accident.