A driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI after crashing into a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car and injuring two officers who were searching for evidence on the northbound 57 Freeway in Fullerton early Tuesday morning.
The officers had been involved in the pursuit of a suspected stolen car that had recently ended in Lynwood and returned to the freeway to look for a weapon that was thrown from the suspect’s vehicle when they were rear-ended by a gray Infiniti sedan around 2 a.m.
The officers were taken to UCI Medical Center where they were visited by LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
Moore said the two male officers suffered bumps and bruises, and the passenger had a laceration on his head, though police later said they sustained “significant head injuries, which thankfully are considered non-life-threatening.”
Both were expected to make a full recovery, Moore said.
The unidentified 25-year-old woman driving the Infiniti also suffered minor injuries and was hospitalized.
Moore confirmed she had been arrested on suspicion of DUI following the crash.
The pursuit began shortly before midnight in the police department’s Newton division, taking place over several side streets and multiple freeways, including the 5, 57, 605 and 105.
The driver eventually pulled into the parking lot of a motel on Atlantic Boulevard in Lynwood, where he barricaded himself before surrendering and being taken into custody around 2 a.m.
All lanes were closed on the northbound 57 Freeway as a result of the crash and investigation.
The carpool lane was reopened around 5:30 a.m. but the rest of the northbound side remained closed.
The closure will remain in place for an unknown duration, officials said around 7 a.m.