CHP: Video shows driver ‘deliberately’ crashed head-on into patrol vehicle parked along interstate

The two officers who were seated in the patrol vehicle at the time of the crash and wearing their seat belts were transported to hospital

March 15, 2024 01:14 PM

Rosalio Ahumada
The Sacramento Bee

DAVIS, Calif. — California Highway Patrol shared video Thursday that officials say captured a driver who “deliberately” crashed head-on into a parked patrol vehicle, injuring two officers Wednesday along Interstate 80 in Davis.

The CHP on Thursday afternoon released video of the white vehicle slamming into the patrol vehicle parked on the right shoulder of the I-80 eastbound lanes, just west of Mace Boulevard.

Two CHP officers injured in deliberate wrong-way crash on Interstate-80. Both were seated inside the patrol vehicle when an individual intentionally crashed into them. Officers treated for injuries; suspect in custody. Watch video from a passing motorist who captured it on film. pic.twitter.com/ZNF7Tns7t2
— CHP Headquarters (@CHP_HQ) March 15, 2024

Ezery Beauchamp, a CHP assistant commissioner, said in a video news release that the officers working for the CHP Woodland office were “targeted” by the driver, who crashed head-on into their parked vehicle. He said the officers had just completed an unrelated traffic stop on another vehicle along the freeway.

The driver, who has since been arrested and booked at the Yolo County Jail, drove his vehicle at a high rate of speed along the right shoulder of the freeway and “intentionally struck” the stopped CHP vehicle, Beauchamp said in the narrated CHP video, which includes footage from another driver who was in the area at the time of the crash.

The video shows the force of the impact cased the white vehicle to become airborne before it rolled over and came to rest on its wheels on the right shoulder. The crash crushed the front end of the CHP patrol vehicle, and its airbags appeared to have deployed.

At the time of the crash, both officers were seated in the patrol vehicle and wearing their seat belts. The CHP said the officers were taken by ambulance to a hospital and medically treated for minor to major injuries.

“Acts of violence like this against our officers will not be tolerated,” Beauchamp said in the video. “Our CHP detectives and investigative personnel will work collaboratively with the ( Yolo County ) District Attorney’s Office to ensure this individual is held accountable for his actions.”