CHP officer injured at San Jose accident scene

SAN JOSE (Map, News) - A California Highway Patrol officer is in a San Jose hospital Thursday after a driver smashed into his patrol car as the officer was working an accident scene in the morning.

About 5:30 a.m., the CHP responded to a multiple-car rollover accident on Highway 87 in south San Jose just south of the Capitol Expressway on-ramp, according to CHP Officer Todd Thibodeau.

About 6:45 a.m., officers were preparing to reopen the closed lanes when a man driving a green Ford Ranger entered the highway at the Capitol Expressway on-ramp and drove into the back of the patrol car that was blocking two of the three lanes.

The patrol car spun and knocked the nearby officer onto the roadway and narrowly missed a second officer. The patrol car also struck a tow truck that was preparing to remove one of the damaged vehicles, Thibodeau said.

The officer was able to get out of the roadway and was transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center with moderate injuries.

The driver of the Ford Ranger was arrested on suspicion of driving without a license.

The two accidents caused Highway 87 to be closed from 5:30 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. There was no information about the first accident available, Thibodeau said.

— Bay City News