On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) released video footage that shows an officer driving a patrol car on the wrong side of the road with their emergency lights and sirens on. The officer proceeded to t-bone the vehicle of a male driver who was making a left-hand turn at the intersection of Adams Boulevard and Gramercy Place near the 10 Freeway.
According to video footage, the officer and their partner appeared to be responding to an “officer needs help call” regarding a person reportedly “armed with a sharp bottle.”
In their initial statement, the LAPD said that the officers were called to help officers with “a radio call of a male armed with a knife.” An LAPD spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking more details about the nature of the “officer needs help call.”
Bodycam footage and video filmed from inside the patrol vehicle show an unidentified officer driving at a high rate of speed with their lights and sirens on. The patrol vehicle was headed eastbound down a two-lane stretch of Adams Boulevard toward Western Avenue.
As they approach Gramercy Place, the officer veers into the opposing traffic lane just before a man, later identified as Regino Orea Jr., makes a left-hand turn in a blue Toyota Corolla. It’s unclear why the officer attempted to pass Orea Jr. on the left when the right-hand lane appeared to be clear.
Security camera footage from a nearby business shows the LAPD officer slamming into the driver's side of the Corolla, sending the sedan flying across all four road lanes before colliding with a parked vehicle.
The collision caused the airbags inside the patrol SUV to go off and the body camera of the officer driving the patrol car to fall to the ground, where it remained while officers tended to Orea Jr.
“I’m seeing stars,” said the officer who slammed into Orea Jr. after the crash, as smoke billowed from the patrol car's hood.
After exiting the vehicle, the officers found Orea Jr. unresponsive and slumped over, with blood smeared across the left side of his head. One of the officers attempted to open the driver’s side door but could not.
The same officer eventually entered the vehicle after breaking the front passenger window, unlocking the door from inside and opening it.
“You okay man?” the officer asked Orea Jr., who was still unresponsive in the driver's seat.
“Hey, you good man?” the officer questioned.
While struggling to remove Orea Jr. from the vehicle, the officer noted that he was still breathing after he checked Orea Jr.’s pulse.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) eventually responded to the scene and transported Orea Jr. to a hospital in an ambulance, where he was put into a medically induced coma, according to LAPD Captain Kelly Muniz.
According to Muniz, Orea is expected to survive.
