UPDATE: CHP Motorcycle Officer Badly Injured In I-80 Crash
SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) – A CHP motorcycle officer hurt in a crash on Interstate 80 near Greenback Tuesday morning has major injuries but is expected to recover, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The accident happened at about 7:40 a.m. on westbound Interstate 80 just east of Greenback Lane.
"People started responding because there was an officer down," said CHP Officer Lizz Dutton. "When it comes over the air and we heard it was CHP, everybody's hair sticks up."
According Dutton, traffic was stop-and-go in the area at the time of the accident. A Chevy Cruz driven by Debra Andes, 53, of Grass Valley was traveling in the No. 2 lane when it rear-ended a Toyota Corolla, driven by Jessica Brown, 50, of Fair Oaks.
The collision pushed the Corolla into the No. 1 lane in front of CHP Officer Andy Beasley, who was traveling 45-50 mph when he struck the driver's side of the Corolla and was ejected from his motorcycle, throwing him into the center median where he struck the guardrail.
Becca Wells watched the crash unravel right in front of her. Becca says she was only a car behind and watched as the officer went flying into the air, over a lane of traffic.
"It was like out of a movie, so unreal," she said. "I've never seen anything like that."
She pulled over and called 9-1-1.
"They made me go look at the cop and ask if he was moving or not and that was really scary," she said. "I didn't know what to do."
As traffic started to back up, Becca stayed at the officer's side until help arrived.
"He was just laying there for a majority of the time. Then he slowly started moving," she said.
Beasley, a 10-year veteran of the CHP, was transported to Mercy San Juan with major injuries. He has undergone CT and MRI scans. He has multiple fractures, minor abrasions and a concussion.
"It's very hard. I know his family, and it's hard when you have something like that happen, because we know at any point something can happened, whether it's traffic related or not traffic related," said Dutton.
No drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident. It's unclear if any charges will be filed in the accident.
The Nos. 1 and 2 lanes were closed for about two and a half hours.
