It’s getting physical out there on the highways in and out of the Santa Clarita Valley – at least, if the arrest of two alleged hit-and-run drivers is any indication.
Two motorists, both men, were arrested on suspicion of hit and run in two separate highway traffic collisions – one Tuesday, the other Monday.
On Tuesday, a hit and run suspect who allegedly hit the vehicle of another motorist near Sierra Highway and Shady Lane Road ended up injured himself in a ditch shortly after the hit and run, California Highway Patrol Officer Josh Greengard told The Signal Tuesday.
The initial collision between the two vehicles happened shortly about 5:20 a.m. Tuesday.
“The suspect vehicle was found parked in a ditch,” Greengard said.
Firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were dispatched to the crash.
Tow truck drivers called to the scene of the disabled “suspect” vehicle were advised by first responders to bring 40 feet of cable to tow the vehicle from the ditch.
“The driver suffered some injuries,” Greengard said. “He was cited (for hit and run) and released to the hospital.”
The driver who was issued the citation to appear in court was the second driver to be suspected of hit and run by CHP officers in a 12-hour period.
In a separate and unrelated crash Monday afternoon, the driver of a blue Honda Accord hit the driver of a blue Ford Flex in the northbound lanes of Highway 14 near Sand Canyon Road, Greengard said.
“The suspect did hit her from behind,” he said.
“The suspect driver then tried to exit at Agua Dulce,” he said. “There were multiple vehicles following him. He exited the highway and we (CHP) tried to initiate a stop.”
The suspect car slowed down to stop but then fled the scene and got back on the northbound lanes of Highway 14, Greengard said.
“He was going 60 miles an hour,” he said. “Then he slowed down to five miles an hour in the middle lane.”
At that point, at 4:40 p.m., CHP officers executed a PIT maneuver (Pursuit Intervention Technique) on the suspect car, meaning they nudged the back of it with their cruiser, causing it to stall.
From the time of the alleged hit and run collision to the time CHP officers stopped the suspect car took about 10 minutes.
“One party was arrested on suspicion of hit and run,” Greengard said.
“The party was then taken to the hospital on suspicion of DUI,” he said, meaning responding CHP officers suspect alcohol may have been a factor in the series of driving events.
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