Police car involved in alleged DUI crash near Santa Maria
»» Update: CHP releases name of alleged wrong-way driver who hit police car
A Guadalupe police officer taking a prisoner to Santa Barbara County Jail was involved in a head-on collision with an alleged drunken driver early Sunday.
About 2:20 a.m. on Highway 1, south of Brown Road, the officer reported he was involved in a crash on the two-lane highway, said Capt. David Zaniboni of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. The officer reportedly spotted an oncoming vehicle traveling north in the southbound lane and attempted to evade it while also applying the brakes.
“Unfortunately, the efforts were too late, and the vehicles struck head on,” the Guadalupe Police Department wrote in a Facebook post.
An 18-year-old woman driving a pickup truck was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving with a presumptive blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, police said. She reportedly received minor injuries, Zaniboni said.
The driver, whose name was not available but reportedly is from Nipomo, was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail.
The officer was taken to Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria for treatment of injuries to his face, hands, arms, knees and abdomen. He was later released and is expected to fully recover, police said.
“Fortunately, his life was likely spared by the use of a seatbelt and airbag deployment,” department officials said.
The male suspect in the back of the vehicle was extricated and taken to Marian Regional Medical Center for injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
This story was originally published December 11, 2016 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Police car involved in alleged DUI crash near Santa Maria."