CHP Motorcycle Officer Injured After Rear-Ending Car on Freeway
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SANTA ANA — A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer was injured Wednesday after he rear-ended a car on the Costa Mesa Freeway, causing the closure of two northbound lanes during rush-hour traffic, authorities said.
Officer Alvin R. Yamaguchi, who has earned a reputation in the county for catching car-pool lane violators who use dummies to avoid the law, was listed in good condition with bruises and a possible broken right thumb at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.
Yamaguchi, 33, a seven-year veteran, was traveling just north of Warner Avenue in the fast lane during stop-and-go traffic when he hit a Toyota MR2 while trying to move into the car-pool lane, CHP spokeswoman Linda Burrus said.
Witnesses told investigators that Yamaguchi, who was going about 10 m.p.h. when he hit the car, flew about eight feet in the air and landed on his back.
Ginger Ann Wassman, 19, of Riverside, the driver of the Toyota, was not cited pending an investigation into the accident, Burrus said. Wassman’s car received minor damage, she said.
The 5:50 p.m. accident snarled traffic in both directions of the freeway for more than an hour, Burrus said.
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