Suspected of Deliberate Ramming : Driver Arrested After Motorcycle Officer, 7 Cars Are Struck

The California Highway Patrol arrested a man suspected of ramming his car into a Los Angeles police motorcycle officer and sideswiping at least seven cars Saturday afternoon on three San Fernando Valley freeways, authorities said.

Oscar Smith, 36, of Newhall was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer several hours after the 1:50 p.m. incident on the southbound Golden State Freeway in Pacoima, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Barry Sandstrom said.

The off-duty officer, James K. Johnson, 32, was not injured seriously. At the time of the collision, he was in uniform and riding his police motorcycle to work in the Central Traffic Division downtown, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Bob Farkas said.

Smith was arrested by CHP officers outside his apartment after stepping from his 1987 Nissan sports car, which fit the description of the vehicle in the hit-and-run case, and turned over to Los Angeles police, Sandstrom said.

Officers had staked out Smith’s apartment after identifying him from a license plate that became dislodged on impact with the motorcycle. The license plate was found at the scene of the collision, Los Angeles Police Detective Don Bellante said.

Investigators believe that Johnson’s motorcycle was rammed intentionally. A witness reported that the driver of the sports car appeared to aim at Johnson, changing lanes to get behind him and accelerating to about 80 m.p.h., Bellante said.

“He couldn’t have done a better job” of ramming the motorcycle, Bellante said of the hit-and-run driver. “It’s just like you’re aiming a rifle.”

The license plate is marked with a tire track from the motorcycle, the detective said.

The witness, who had pulled alongside Johnson, gestured to try to warn him that the sports car was nearing, but, as Johnson turned to look, he was struck, Bellante said.

The impact separated Johnson from the motorcycle and sent him tumbling over the southbound sports car, which broke his fall to the pavement, Bellante said. The injured officer had to cross two freeway lanes and a one-lane entry ramp--a distance of about 60 feet--to reach safety on the right shoulder, he said.

Before the car struck the motorcycle, witnesses reported that it had sideswiped or forced at least six vehicles off the road on the southbound San Diego Freeway and eastbound Simi Valley Freeway, the detective said.

Several drivers tried to follow the driver, and at least one called 911 on a mobile telephone as he followed the Nissan, authorities said.

The caller reported that the sports car was “all over the road,” CHP Officer Stearlene Marshall said.

After hitting the motorcycle, the Nissan sideswiped another car before police and witnesses lost track of it, Bellante said.

Johnson, who sustained cuts and bruises and complained of head and neck pain, was treated at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills and released, a spokesman said.