A patrol car driven by a Santa Ana police officer collided with another vehicle at about 1:30 a.m. this morning, according to the O.C. Register.
The crash happened at the intersection of N. Main Street and W. Civic Center Drive, according to ABC News.
The police officer ended up in the hospital but had stable vital signs, according to the SAPD.
The driver of the other car had to take a field sobriety test at the scene. No report yet as to whether or not he was hurt or will be charged with a DUI.
A news videographer at the scene told the O.C. Register that the driver of the other vehicle was seen sitting on a curb.
One of our readers reported the incident to us at 4 a.m. The intersection remained closed to the public until about 5 a.m. this morning while the police conducted their investigation.
The accident happened in the Civic Center area, not far from the SAPD headquarters, and just north of the Artists Village/DTSA, where there are many bars. Pro bar enthusiasts have been petitioning the State Legislature to keep bars open until 4 a.m., a crazy idea we hope never comes to pass.
No worries. The attempt to extend last call is dead in Sacramento for this year. And kudos to the California Assembly for choosing public health and safety over nightlife industry greed. By strongly rejecting Senator Wiener’s 3rd attempt to disrupt the protections of statewide, uniform, 2 a.m. last call with a bogus so-called “pilot project”, the Assembly acknowledged the dangers of SB 58’s misguided policy change. Their rejection of the bill was an affirmation that all life in California is more important that nightlife profits.
In 2018, the evidence for increased harms was presented to the legislature in an Alcohol Justice/CAPA report entitled The Late Night Threat, Science, Harms, and Costs of Extending Bar Service Hours. (http://alcoholjustice.org/images/reports/reports-full/LATE-NIGHT-THREAT-final.pdf) It highlighted the existing data supporting how the acute effects of extending alcohol sales would spread to “Splash Zones” surrounding the pilot project cities.
This year a new analysis was done by the respected Oakland-based ARG organization, a project of the Public Health Institute. The “High Cost of the 4 A.M. Bar Bill” (https://www.alcoholjustice.org/images/reports/reports-full/highcost4am-PRINT.pdf) was a first of its kind cost-benefit analysis detailing the effects of changing state alcohol policy to allow later last call at bars, restaurants, and clubs. The analysis disturbingly documented the worst concerns of Alcohol Justice and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) that public health and safety would be severely compromised if SB 58 became law.
The California Assembly made the right choice. We are hopeful that Senator Wiener’s 3rd failure will mark his final attempt to change this important life-saving policy. Text JUSTICE to 313131 to thank the Assemblymembers who stopped SB 58.