Critically injured off-duty California Highway Patrol officer
The driver of a silver four-door Toyota Tundra is sought in a collision that critically injured an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer late Tuesday afternoon in northwest Fresno.
The officer was riding a motorcycle east on Herndon Avenue about 5:15 p.m. when he was tailgated by the pickup, Fresno police spokesman Jeff Cardinale said. The two vehicles stopped at Palm Avenue, and the officer legally shared a lane with other vehicles to move his motorcycle to the front of the intersection. As he did so, the Tundra driver honked his horn at the officer, Cardinale said.
When the light turned green, the officer continued in the middle lane at a legal speed and the Tundra driver struck the motorcycle, causing no damage but forcing the motorcycle into the right lane, investigators said. The Tundra driver then veered into the slow lane, forcing the motorcycle into the curb and causing the rider to crash, then drove on, investigators said.
The officer, whose name has not been released, is in stable condition and undergoing surgery this morning in the San Francisco Bay area, CHP spokesman Matt Radke said.
Fresno police detective Brian Hance said there is a chance the pickup's color was tan or pewter, instead of silver. Police are checking nearby video surveillance cameras for evidence of the collision.
Hance said the officer was an avid motorcyclist who was riding a Kawasaki KLR 650 dual-sport.
Anyone with information about the Tundra pickup or its driver can call Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP, where a cash reward is offered for information leading to an arrest or conviction.
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