WEST COVINA, Calif. – A hotel owner in Los Angeles County who was taking a cigarette break outside his business jumped into action on Tuesday to help save a California Highway Patrol officer who was rendered unconscious in a vehicle collision.
The CHP said their officer was conducting a traffic stop about 2:00 p.m. on the right shoulder of the eastbound 10 Freeway at Barranca Street. He was seated in his patrol SUV when it was struck from behind.
“I heard a bang and then a second bang and then a third bang,” said Shiraz Deayal, owner of a Days Inn in West Covina. “I look in front of me and I see a car hit a CHP officer.”
Two cars had just been in a crash nearby, when the driver of a Toyota Sequoia lost control of the vehicle and rear-ended the officer’s patrol unit, which was then pushed forward and struck the back of the Toyota Corolla that had been pulled over, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.
“I pry open his door and I’m trying to see if he’s alert or not. I grab his radio and I say, ‘Officer down, officer down,’ and the radio goes silent and they do an all alert and they ask me where I’m at and who I am,” Deayal told FOX 11.
Shiraz Deayal jumped into action to help an injured CHP officer in West Covina. (Screenshot FOX 11)
“If it was a regular accident I wouldn’t have hopped over the fence but as it was a law enforcement officer I did hop over. The officer’s safety is my most concern,” Deayal added.
Deayal said a stranger helped him hop the wall so he could get to the officer who needed help.
“I’m trying to hop it, couldn’t hop it and a guy helped me out, do not know who he is, but I was the first one on the scene,” Deayal said.
The officer was unconscious and Deayal said he stayed with him until he came to and other first responders arrived, FOX reported.
Aerial view of a vehicle collision involving a CHP officer in West Covina. (Screenshot Fox 11 )
“He was trying to do something I thought he’d never do. He was worried about the people around him and I tell him, ‘Don’t worry I got you.’ I tried to help him out as best I can,” the Days Inn owner recounted.
The unidentified officer was transported a local hospital with moderate injuries, according to Fox 11. The driver of the Toyota Sequoia was also taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Other people involved in the crash sustained minor injuries but did not require medical attention at a hospital.
The collision remains under investigation. No citations have been issued or arrests made as a result of the crash, police said.
