Deputy Sherrif and 72-year-old Motorist Injured in Collision

November 11, 2008

Los Angeles, CA - A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and a 72-year-old motorist suffered injuries after being involved in a collision last Saturday morning.

According to Edmund Zorilla, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, the accident happened at around 5:15 a.m. in Covina when Deputy Brian Harper, 39, ran a red light responding to an emergency call and collided with another vehicle.

Arthur Lerille, the driver of the 1989 Cadillac, is a local horse trainer and was on his way to work at Santa Anita racetrack when Harper ran a red light while taking action to a call of a man with a gun and the vehicles collided.

Harper has suffered spinal cord injuries and several broken bones and is being treated at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital.

According to Lerille's wife, Cindy, Lerille is being treated for arm and head injuries in the intensive care unit of Pomona Valley Hospital and has suffered head gashes and short-term memory loss and will need surgery on his left arm.

Authorities said that neither man was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

California Highway Patrol is still investigating the incident.