2 Officers Among 8 Hurt After Tow Truck Driver Runs Red Light In South LA

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Investigators believe a tow truck driver ran a red light in South Los Angeles late Wednesday night and caused a violent multivehicle wreck which left eight people injured, including two LAPD officers, one of whom had to be rescued from his patrol car using the Jaws of Life.

The rescued officer and the tow truck driver were rushed to local hospitals with critical injuries. A second officer was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

According to Los Angeles police, the four-vehicle wreck occurred at the intersection of Main Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard shortly before 10 p.m.

The officers were responding to a call when a tow truck ran a red light and slammed into three cars, including their patrol car.

L.A. Fire Department crews had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate one of the officers, who was trapped in the patrol car.

Along with the two officers and the tow truck driver, five others sustained minor injuries, the fire department said.

"The preliminary information that we have at this point, it appears that the tow truck driver had ran through a red light, causing the accident, but that tow truck driver may also have been responding to another emergency as well," LAPD Lt. Chris Ramirez told CBSLA.

No names were released. The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation.