Southbound 5 Freeway reopened in Santa Clarita hours after LAPD motorcycle officer involved in crash
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 north of Lyons Avenue just 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 Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia.
Beck declined to identify the officer, who has two teenage children, but said members of the officer’s family are being flown down from Northern California.
“I ask everybody’s thoughts and prayers to be with him,” Beck said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
The crash forced the CHP to shut down all southbound lanes at Lyons Avenue about 5:45 a.m. said CHP Officer Peter Nicholson.
The lanes were reopened about 8:30 a.m., CHP logs show.
An investigation into the crash was ongoing.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
UPDATES:
12:55 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.
8:40 a.m.: This article was updated with the lanes reopening.
This article was originally published at 6:30 a.m.
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