Officer Hurt in Chase on Freeway

A Glendora police officer chasing a stolen pickup was injured Friday evening when his patrol car skidded off the 210 Freeway, investigators said.

The driver of the pickup left the freeway and, after being cornered in a cul-de-sac, abandoned the truck and fled on foot into a wooded area south of the freeway, police said.

The suspect, who was not identified, was caught shortly before 10 p.m. near a Glendora sports park, police said.

Rush-hour traffic was backed up as far as 15 miles as police shut down the freeway in both directions to bring in a medical evacuation helicopter. Officer Mike Skibar, 27, was flown to County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles. His condition was listed as stable.

Glendora Police Lt. Rob Lamborghini said Skibar spotted the pickup, which had been reported stolen, at Glendora Avenue and Route 66 about 5 p.m. Lamborghini said that during the chase that followed, the suspect was involved in at least four traffic accidents but kept going.

Skibar and fellow Glendora officers in two other cars were following the pickup west on the 210 about 5:10 p.m. when Skibar lost control of his cruiser. The car overturned in heavy vegetation on the north side of the freeway, and county firefighters had to pry Skibar from the wreckage.

The suspect, followed by the other police cars, got off the freeway at Sunflower Avenue, made several turns and drove into a dead end, police said. He then ran east along the San Dimas Wash and took cover in woods, they said.

Eastbound freeway traffic was backed up to Pasadena, officers said. Westbound traffic began moving again about 6 p.m., eastbound 15 minutes later.