A Santa Paula police officer is recovering after being struck by a suspected drunken driver during an investigation of possible illegal fireworks on Sunday night, authorities said.
Shortly after 11 p.m., officers were sent out to the intersection of Steckel Drive and Estriga Court to check out a report that illegal fireworks were being launched in the area, according to a Santa Paula Police Department news release.
One of the responding officers was standing near his patrol vehicle when a car struck its driver’s side door while northbound on Steckel. The car then swerved and struck the officer, police said.
The officer was rushed by the Ventura County Fire Department to a local hospital, where he was treated for unspecified injuries. He was released early Monday morning.
California Highway Patrol officers were called out to investigate and determined the driver — identified by police as 40-year-old Anthony Aceves of Santa Paula — was impaired at the time of the crash, according to the release.
Authorities said his blood alcohol level was found to be above the legal limit of .08%.
Acevas was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury, police said. He was booked at the Ventura County Jail and held on $50,000 bail, according to inmate records.