WHITTIER >> A man died in a solo-vehicle crash and a Whittier police officer directing traffic around the scene was struck an injured by a passing vehicle Friday afternoon along Colima Road in Whittier, authorities said.
The series of events began about 5:15 p.m., when an SUV heading south on Colima Road struck a tree just north of Mar Vista Street, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Randall Atanay said.
“According to early reports, the driver, for unknown reasons, veered off the roadway and collided with a tree,” Whittier police Officer John Scoggins said. “As a result of the impact, he was trapped inside the vehicle and fire had to extricate him.”
Once freed from the wreckage, paramedics pronounced the driver of the SUV dead at the scene, Atanay said. He was initially described as 60 years old.
A Whittier police officer who was on foot directing traffic around the crash scene about half an hour later was struck by a passing vehicle at Colima Road and Carretera Drive, just south of the original crash, Scoggins said.
Firefighters took the officer to a hospital with injuries considered to be minor, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Todd Emrick said.
Both crashes remained under investigation, Scoggins said. Whittier police were investigating the fatal crash, while California Highway Patrol officers took charge of the investigation into the police officer being struck.
The driver who struck the officer remained and the scene, officials said.
Officials shut down both the northbound and southbound lanes of Colima Road between Whittier Boulevard and Mar Vista Street for several hours following the crashes, Scoggins said.
Traffic was expected to be affected into late Friday night, and possible into early Saturday.