Bustamante may have been drunk when he hit a police car in Anaheim

(Picture courtesy of the L.A. Times)

You would have to be pretty drunk to hit a police car – and that appears to be what happened earlier this week, in Anaheim, when a police trainee and her supervisor were taken to a hospital after being rear-ended (see picture above).

“The officers, one male and one female, were slowly driving west on Orangethorpe Avenue shortly after 2 a.m. when their vehicle was hit from behind by a pickup truck that appeared to be traveling much faster than the patrol car,” according to the L.A. Times.

Here are a few more excerpts from the L.A. Times:

Anaheim firefighters had to extract the truck driver, Luis Bustamante of Anaheim, from his vehicle, and he displayed signs of intoxication, Martinez said.

Bustamante, 24, was taken to Western Medical Center in Anaheim for treatment and then booked at the Anaheim City Jail on suspicion of felony drunk driving and driving without a license.

As a defensive driving instructor for the National Safety Council, I can tell you that drunk drivers are often distracted by bright lights.  And they tend to crash into things that they are looking at.  In this case, the Bustamante fellow almost took out two police officers.  They are fortunate to have survived this episode.  The lesson for us – always be aware of who is around you when you are driving – and what they are doing.  When you are out that early in the morning, you really have to watch out for other drivers as they might be inebriated drunks trying to find their way home.

UPDATE:

In related news, a suspected drunk driver in Santa Ana struck a police officer early this morning.

“The driver, identified as Francisco Jimenez, was traveling north on Bristol and tried to turn into a parking lot when he lost control of the car. Jimenez hit a curb and caromed off the officer’s car and then struck the officer” according to the O.C. Register.

UPDATE:

You may have noticed that I have closed this post to new comments.  I think the horse has been beaten to death.  Move on folks.

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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.