By Suzie Ziegler
PARAMOUNT, Calif. — Three California Highway Patrol officers are recovering Thursday after a dramatic overnight crash, ABC 7 reported. Police say a DUI suspect slammed into the officers’ squad car, creating a fireball that engulfed the cruiser.
Two officers inside the squad car managed to get out before the vehicle caught fire and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to the report. A third officer standing outside the vehicle sustained more serious injuries, police said.
The officers were protecting the site of an earlier crash when the SUV slammed into them. The driver of the SUV was arrested on suspicion of DUI, according to the report.
Robert Martinez, a witness to the crash, said the SUV was speeding in the HOV lane.
“The person who actually hit the CHP car was in the diamond lane, going 90, 95, definitely faster than I was,” Martinez told ABC 7. “They flew right past me. CHP had the lane closed with flares out, the driver applied no brakes and went straight into the CHP car, all four wheels off the ground.”
Video from the scene shows a police vehicle fully engulfed in flames.