An officer with the California Highway Patrol was taken to the hospital Sunday night after a suspected DUI driver slammed into the rear of his vehicle on the westbound 22 Freeway in Garden Grove, trapping him inside.
Calls about the incident came in around 8:45 p.m., according to Captain Jose Perez with the Orange County Fire Authority.
The officer had pulled over on the freeway to help a vehicle that was experiencing mechanical problems when the driver of a Chevrolet Tahoe rear-ended his patrol car and also struck the other vehicle, a white Porsche Cayenne, OnScene.TV reported.
“When we arrived on scene, we had one officer stuck in his car. He had to be extricated with the jaws of life by our truck company,” Perez said.
The officer, a six-year veteran of the CHP, was taken to the University of California, Irvine Medical Center for treatment of moderate injuries, the CHP stated in a news release.
The CHP later revealed that a boy and girl who were passengers in the Tahoe were uninjured in the crash and released to a family member following the incident.
A 36-year-old woman, identified by authorities as Krystal Amy Ramos, was placed under arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, the CHP stated.
Video showed one person, apparently Ramos, taking a field sobriety test before being handcuffed and placed in a patrol vehicle.
Ramos was later booked on suspicion of felony DUI and child endangerment.
All lanes of the 22 Freeway in Garden Grove were shut down for about an hour while authorities investigated and cleared the roadway.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call the CHP at 714-892-4426.