A Modesto, CA, police officer suffered major injuries when struck on Yosemite Boulevard by a vehicle fleeing the California Highway Patrol early Tuesday. The incident began when the CHP spotted the suspect going the wrong way on Highway 99, reports the Modesto Bee.
Officer Juan Arroyo remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition Tuesday afternoon, Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves said.
Officer Juan Arroyo (Photo: Modesto PD)
The collision occurred about 1:30 a.m. on Yosemite at North Santa Ana Avenue. Emergency dispatch had advised Modesto police that the CHP was in pursuit of a Toyota Tundra pickup truck in Modesto's airport neighborhood.
Arroyo had been heading west on Yosemite to assist. The suspect, Modesto resident Nazario Daniel Castillo IV, 25, was driving north on South Santa Ana Avenue when he ran the stop sign at Yosemite and broadsided Arroyo's patrol car.
Arroyo suffered major injuries including fractured bones, said CHP Modesto-area spokesman Officer Thomas Olsen. The Modesto Fire Department said the officer had to be extricated from his patrol car.
Castillo was ejected from the pickup and suffered moderate injuries, including lacerations, Olsen said. After the crash, Castillo showed objective signs of intoxication, the CHP reported. He faces charges of evading an officer and causing injury or death; evading an officer and reckless driving; and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and causing bodily injury.
