Authorities in California say a wrong way driver injured 25 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies and police officer recruits Wednesday morning when he allegedly struck them with a car while they were on a training run.
In a statement on its official Facebook page, the department said recruits from the STAR Explore Training Academy were struck in Whittier just before 6:30 a.m.
During a press conference, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the recruits were running near the academy northbound in a formation when a car driving southbound veered into them.
Of those injured, five sustained critical injuries, four recruits suffered moderate injuries, and 16 others had minor injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals, Villanueva said.
Villanueva said one of the recruits that suffered critical injuries was currently on a ventilator at Saint Francis.
The injuries ranged from head trauma, broken bones and loss of limbs, Villanueva added.
Villanueva said they were part of a class that consisted of 75 recruits, including police officers from Bell, Glendale, Pasadena, El Segundo and UCLA.
He added that two recruits injured were from Bell, two were from Glendale and one was from Pasadena.
Villanueva said that the remaining injured were recruits from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.
Villanueva said that the driver of the vehicle, identified as a 22-year-old male from Diamond Bar, was detained at the scene.
Villanueva added that the driver was also taken to a nearby hospital. Villanueva said he passed a field sobriety test and he was not intoxicated.
The cause of the crash is unknown at this time, Villanueva said.