At least one Riverside County sheriff’s deputy who was involved in a pursuit was hospitalized after being involved in a crash with a car in Perris Saturday night, Nov. 1, authorities said.
The crash also sent an unknown number of occupants of a Honda Civic, which was not involved in the pursuit, to the hospital with complaints of pain injuries, said Officer Juan Navarro of the California Highway Patrol, which was investigating the crash.
The collision occurred at the Ramona Expressway and Lake Perris Drive around 10:15 p.m., officials said. It wasn’t immediately known if there was one or two deputies in the sheriff’s SUV.
Riverside County deputies responded to a call of a suspicious person in the 300 block of Markham Street just before 10 p.m. and learned from a 911 caller that multiple people were trying to break into a business, with one of them possibly armed, sheriff’s Lt. Deirdre Vickers said.
Deputies arrived to find a vehicle fleeing the area and attempted to stop it, but the driver did not stop, leading to a pursuit, Vickers said. Four suspects ran from the vehicle in the area of East Rider Street and Old Evans Road, and three of them were found and taken into custody with the help of a Riverside Police Department helicopter and a Riverside County sheriff’s K9 unit.
The fourth suspect remains outstanding, Vickers said.
During the pursuit, one of the sheriff’s vehicles collided with the Honda Civic, Vickers said.
CHP investigators learned the sheriff’s vehicle had lights and sirens activated while traveling eastbound on the Ramona Expressway when the driver of the Civic attempted to make a left turn from southbound Lake Perris Drive onto the eastbound expressway, Navarro said.
Both vehicles were disabled and all occupants were hospitalized, Navarro said. Further information regarding the conditions of the occupants was not yet known.
Video from freelance videographer OnScene.TV showed the Civic with major damage to the rear and a Riverside County sheriff’s SUV with major front-end damage.
Footage also appeared to show a black Dodge SUV abandoned by the suspects after it appeared to crash through a wooden fence into an empty dirt lot.
