3 Arrested After Crash With Police Patrol Car

SANTA ANA — A Garden Grove police officer suffered minor injuries and three suspects were arrested after a car collision early Wednesday morning that left the officer’s patrol car wrecked, police said.

Officer Veronica Enriquez reported that while on patrol at 12:25 a.m. she collided with a black Honda Prelude that ran a stop sign at West McFadden Avenue and Maxine Street, said Lt. John Woods, spokesman for Garden Grove police.

The Prelude’s three occupants ran from the scene immediately after the accident but were arrested shortly afterward as police from three cities searched the surrounding residential area, Woods said.

Viet Tran, 18, of Santa Ana, was identified as the driver of the car and was arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run, police said.

The two passengers were identified as No Math, 22 of Huntington Beach, and a 17-year-old Garden Grove boy whose name was withheld because of his age, Woods said. Both were arrested on suspicion of obstructing an investigation and prowling.

The crash occurred within Santa Ana city limits, an area that Woods said Enriquez was passing through while en route to a “finger” of Garden Grove jurisdiction that extends south from Hazard Avenue on the city’s east side.

Enriquez injured her left leg in the accident and was later treated and released from a local hospital. “She was in here on crutches this morning,” Woods said Wednesday. “She probably had some severe bruising. It was a pretty good impact.”