On July 11, while driving to back up another officer chasing a burglary suspect, a Santa Maria Police Department officer crashed his cruiser into a tree in a center median near the 100 Block of North Broadway. The officer was transported via ambulance to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara with serious injuries. As of press time, the officer was in stable condition with several broken bones and non-life threatening injuries. The accident wasn’t related to the vehicle pursuit, which started in another city and ended in Santa Maria.
This article appears in Jul 15-22, 2010.