2 Officers Struck Before and After High-Speed Chase

Two officers were injured when hit by a suspect’s car in the course of a high-speed chase from Stanton to Garden Grove, Stanton Police Capt. Leonard Haworth said.

Haworth said that William Lane Richey, 25, of Fountain Valley was stopped for suspicion of reckless driving near the parking lot of Me-N-Ed’s Pizza at 12736 Beach Blvd. in Stanton about 6 p.m. Sunday when he tried to run over a police officer, striking his right leg.

The officer was not seriously injured and was able to chase Richey, who fled to Garden Grove and then Long Beach on the Garden Grove Freeway, police said. With the aid of the Costa Mesa police helicopter, officers were able to track the car as it sped through Long Beach streets, then back onto the freeway, through Santa Ana and eventually back to Garden Grove. Haworth said Richey was cornered in front of the Garden Grove police station. There, investigators said, Richey backed his car up, pinning Mike Smith, a police trainee, against a patrol car.

Haworth said the car Richey was driving later was reported stolen in Orange.

Richey was booked on suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon, reckless driving, evading arrest, grand auto theft and driving under the influence of drugs.

Smith sustained only minor injuries, Haworth said.