Video shows officer crash during chase
A California Highway Patrol officer is expected to recover after his patrol car flipped and crashed near a power pole in Watsonville on April 8.
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WATSONVILLE, California (KSBW) — A California Highway Patrol officer is expected to recover after his patrol car flipped and crashed near a power pole in Watsonville on Tuesday night, causing a power outage and narrowly missing a propane tank.
The accident occurred around 7:45 p.m. near the intersection of Hall and Willow roads, in front of Las Lomas Market. The officer was responding to an emergency call when the crash happened.
Surveillance video shows the patrol car speeding past another vehicle pulling out of a side street, narrowly missing it and a nearby propane tank before crashing near a power pole.
“It looked like he was going over 80 miles an hour. So it’s not the drivers turning left. He did everything right. He stopped. It was a cop that was coming way too fast,” said Adrian Espinosa of Prunedale.
Residents have long complained about the intersection, calling it a blind spot and problematic.
“We would always complain about there not being a light here at this intersection. We really want light here at this intersection. We would love this intersection to be safer. It is a blind spot. It is really hard to get out of here, especially at night when it’s dark. Especially during rush hour. It’s really hard to make this turn. It’s not very safe,” said Emily Valdivia of Royal Oaks.
Adrian Mendoza, the owner of Las Lomas Market, expressed relief that the propane tank did not explode.
“A police car flipped over and, actually, hit the pole here in front of the store. We got lucky that the poles were there and didn’t hit the propane tank. I think it would have been, you know, something that we didn’t want to wake up to today or deal with,” Mendoza said.
CHP said they will release more information after their investigation.
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