LAPD Officer Seriously Injured in Motorcycle Crash on Way to Work

A Los Angeles police officer was pinned under a vehicle and the southbound 5 Freeway was shut down for several hours Tuesday following a traffic collision in Santa Clarita, the California Highway Patrol said.

The motorcycle officer became pinned under a vehicle during the collision that occurred after 5:15 a.m., said L.A. County Fire supervising dispatcher Eddie Pickett.

The officer was driving to work when his motorcycle became entangled with a blue tarp that may have flown off another vehicle on the highway, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday.

The tarp became entangled with the officer's motorcycle, causing him to crash and become trapped under another vehicle. Beck described the officer's injuries as "very, very serious," but said he is in stable condition at a local hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports.