4 Orange County deputies injured when DUI suspect crashes into patrol cars

Four Orange County sheriff’s deputies were injured early Tuesday after a person suspected of driving under the influence crashed into their patrol cars, authorities said.

A driver was traveling south about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday on Imperial Highway near Casa Loma Avenue in Yorba Linda and struck multiple cruisers that were stopped for an arrest, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Department news release. The chain-reaction crash caused one of the parked patrol cars to strike the deputies, who were outside their vehicles.

The deputies suffered minor to moderate injuries and were treated at hospitals, officials said. Three were released by 8 a.m. Tuesday, while the fourth was still hospitalized, the Sheriff’s Department said.

A person who had been arrested on suspicion of an undisclosed misdemeanor offense and was in the back of one of the patrol cars when the crash occurred was hospitalized with minor injuries.

The driver was arrested by the California Highway Patrol on suspicion of driving under the influence. The investigation is ongoing and is being handled by the CHP.

Video from the scene showed Orange County Fire Authority personnel and paramedics attending to the injured deputies and loading at least one of them onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. Several damaged patrol cars involved in the crash and a red Ford truck with a caved-in right bumper could also be seen in the video.