Man Slams Into Ambulance, Flees, Crashes; Needs Ambulance: CHP

TEMECULA, CA — Two men were hospitalized late Thursday night following a crash that happened as they were fleeing from the California Highway Patrol near Temecula, officials report.

It all started just before 8 p.m. in the area of SR-79 and Sage Road, according to CHP Officer Mike Lassig. Emergency personnel, including an AMR ambulance, were at the scene of an unrelated traffic crash when a man in a 1995 Honda Accord came up on the vehicles.

"The driver of the Honda Accord collided with the parked AMR vehicle and immediately made a U-turn and fled the scene in an easterly direction on SR-79," Lassig said.

The incident was called into the CHP who soon spotted the Accord on the same road, Lassig said. However, the driver "failed to yield" and took off.

"The driver lost control of the Honda Accord and collided into a dirt embankment on the shoulder area, causing the vehicle to roll over," Lassig said. "The Honda Accord's driver and passenger were not wearing seat belts and were ejected from their vehicle."

Both men had major injuries and were taken to the hospital by a helicopter. Their names were not released.

Lassig said it was later learned that the Accord had been reported stolen a day earlier.