File photo of a California Highway Patrol Dodge Charger. Credit: Nick Ares / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Two California Highway Patrol officers were walking up to a burning 2007 Toyota Camry on northbound Interstate 215 in Riverside County to check whether anyone was inside when the car exploded and engulfed them in flames, according to CHP’s account of the Sunday, Oct. 25 incident. Both officers were taken to a hospital with what CHP described as minor to moderate injuries. CHP also said investigators determined the Camry’s driver was under the influence and arrested that person.
The call came in at about 3:15 p.m. just south of State Route 60, KTLA reported from a CHP news release; NBC Palm Springs put it at 3:17 p.m. Officers were sent to a Camry blocking lanes that two men were pushing. The car was moved to the right shoulder, where it caught fire.
What the video shows
KTLA credited the video to Homie News, which shared it with the station. It shows a fireball engulfing the officers as they run. NBC Palm Springs described the footage as released by authorities. Backfire News could not find an original upload from either source, so the clip is not embedded here. KTLA reported, citing CHP, that the officers’ uniforms did not catch fire and the flames went out as they ran.
CHP has not said what caused the fire or the explosion. The investigation is open, and CHP is asking witnesses to call its Riverside office at 951-324-7210.
The DUI arrest and the explosion are separate questions
Nothing in CHP’s release, as reported, ties the driver’s condition to the fire. The public account does not say what burned, whether the engine was running, or whether the arrested person was in the car, one of the two men pushing it, or someone else. CHP has not released a name or any charges. A DUI arrest on suspicion is an accusation, not a court finding, and the step from arrest to charge belongs to prosecutors, as in this California arrest on suspicion of DUI that Backfire News covered earlier.
Who counts as the driver is a real question here. Vehicle Code section 305 defines a driver as a person who “drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle”. The DUI statute, section 23152, makes it unlawful to “drive a vehicle” while under the influence. How those two provisions apply to a car being pushed across freeway lanes is a call for whoever reviews the case, and CHP has not described the facts that would answer it.
If there is a conviction, the first-offense range is set in Vehicle Code section 23536: county jail of at least 96 hours, with at least 48 of them continuous, and no more than six months, plus a fine of $390 to $1,000. No charge has been reported in this case.
What happens next
As of Monday, Nov. 2, no driver name, charges or court date had been reported. The items to watch are CHP’s finding on what caused the fire and whether prosecutors file a case.
Two officers walked toward a burning Camry to see if anyone was inside. Right call, or should they have waited for the fire crew?
About the Author
