Newport man arrested after hitting police motorcycle

Amy R. Spurgeon

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Officers arrested a 37-year-old Newport Beach

man Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence minutes after he

swerved off Pacific Coast Highway and plowed into the motorcycle of a

Huntington Beach police officer who was on a routine traffic stop.

Officers said Ronald Grey drove his 1993 Jeep Cherokee into officer

Richard Wright’s motorcycle, knocking it into Wright and a 16-year-old

male the officer was questioning on the shoulder of the road.

After hitting the motorcycle, Grey’s Jeep continued forward and hit the

16-year-old’s full-size Chevy S-10 truck, which contained another male

minor. The Jeep flipped once before landing right side up.

Paramedics on the scene had the officer and passenger of the Jeep

airlifted to UCI Medical Center in Orange. The officer suffered a broken

arm while the two teenagers in the truck received only minor injuries.

Officers transported Grey to Orange County Jail and booked him on felony

charges of driving under the influence.

Huntington Beach police officers could not comment on how fast Grey’s

Cherokee had been traveling or the reason for the unrelated traffic stop.

The accident does bring up issues of traffic safety regarding routine

traffic stops along busy streets, police said.

“Unfortunately the officer doesn’t always have the luxury of picking the

location when pulling people over,” said Lt. Preston Linker of the

Huntington Beach Police Department. “There can be many factors

influencing the immediacy of the spot.”

Linker said whenever possible officers pick a safe spot to pull someone

over.

The department will look at the incident to see if any steps could

prevent similar incidents from occurring, he said.

“We review every officer-involved incident and traffic accident,” Linker

said.