Vehicle crashes into 2 police cars

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- A 47-year-old Huntington Beach man believed to have been

driving drunk rammed his car into two police cars Saturday night,

destroying one brand new patrol car, officials said.

Two Costa Mesa police officers had parked their respective cars by the

curb of Placentia Avenue near Estancia High School and were conducting a

separate DUI investigation about 8:20 p.m. Saturday, said Lt. Dale

Birney.

Guadalupe Esquivel, who was driving a truck, did not see the two

patrol cars with their lights flashing and crashed into the rear end of

one of them, Birney said.

The first car then hit the back of the other patrol car parked in

front of it.

“The cars were not blocking the road,” Birney said. “There is a

bicycle lane there, but there was more than six feet of clearance. But

Mr. Esquivel didn’t make it around the patrol cars.”

Esquivel was traveling probably between 40 and 50 miles an hour when

he crashed, Birney said. The two officers were not injured and Esquivel

was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

The patrol car that Esquivel hit directly was a “brand new one” the

city had bought recently.

“That one is now completely damaged,” Birney said. “The entire trunk

was pushed into the back seat.”

The other unit suffered “moderate” damage and both were towed to the

city yard, he said.

Esquivel will not face additional charges for hitting police cars from

the court’s point of view, but will be billed by the city for the damage

he caused.

“If he has insurance, the city will collect money for a new unit from

the insurance company,” Birney said. “If he does not have insurance, the

only remedy is to sue him in civil court.”

A fully loaded patrol car could cost about $40,000 or more, he added.

Almost exactly a year ago, a Costa Mesa police officer was injured

when a drunk driver rammed into his patrol car on Harbor Boulevard the

night of June 2, 2001.

“Fortunately, in this case, the officers were both standing on the

sidewalk,” Birney said. “But it probably still shocked them quite a bit.”

* Deepa Bharath is a reporter with Times Community News. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7

[email protected] .