CHP Officer Hit By Car On Highway 50

May 30, 2011 10:27 AM

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Local, News

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A CHP officer is in the hospital after he was hit while trying rescue a dog that was dodging in and out of traffic on Highway 50 Sunday night.

At around 10:35 the officer stopped in the center median on the freeway east of Howe Avenue after a dog was seen by motorists running in and out of traffic lanes, according to the CHP.

At the same time, Abigail Pelegrino of Sacramento was driving her Toyota Camry at normal freeway speeds on Highway 50 when she swerved to miss the dog and hit the center median. She tried to regain control of the vehicle and swerved to the right, hitting the officer. He was thrown onto the hood and after the vehicle crossed several lanes, was thrown onto the roadway. The car hit the metal guardrail and veered off the road.

See more photos from the crash

Despite his injuries, the officer was able to move off the road.

Pelegrino was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. She complained of minor injuries.

The officer was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center with numerous, scrapes, cuts and bruises. His name has not been released. He is a three-year veteran of the CHP, and was completing a one-year assignment in the South Sacramento area.

Todd

Moral of the story…just hit the dog next time…don’t panic….geez if you were in an SUV and swerved like that it would suddenly go into rocking motion and flip several times! I’m glad the CHP officer only suffered minor injuries…impressive.

Selmers

Moral, slow the F down and pay attention! There is no reason for this accident!

Linda

so what happened to the dog?
Aaron

Why did the officer leave his vehicle for a dog? He should have turned his lights on and changed lanes across the freeway to slow traffic then chased the dog off the freeway with his intercom or approached it once he brought traffic to a halt. I think it’s better for us to be a few minutes late to work then have a dead officer, dead dog and probably a lawsuit.

sally

you have no clue dude you are not a pro. He was doing what was right and the girl was not under drugs or booze or speeding leave it to the cops you have no clue

DrewD

I taught my kids to NEVER swerve wildly to miss an animal in the road. This is the exact reason. Try to brake as much as you can without losing control, or having a car behind you catch up and clobber you, otherwise…hit the animal. Sad, but better outcome for humans!

Chris Bonner

DrewD is absolutely right and yes its not a pleasant thing to hit an animal but far better than causing an accident by swerving to avoid the animal
Hisimage

though it may seem cruel the value of the animal is not as high as the life of a human being. society has placed to much value on there pets and have lost sight of the importance of there fellow man.

Selmers

Their pets… you uneducated moron!

ShowSomeRespect

You people are the reason people like me have to pull dead animal road hazards out of the street … If you choose to plow into an animal, have the decency to go back and pull it out of the road. Granted, the freeway is not the place to pull an animal out of the road, but there is plenty of road kill on the surface streets that people just ignore. Show some respect. The animal had a life, a heart and a soul.

nancy Bradley

I totally agree, animals have life, a heart and a soul. Poor thing was confused and in danger, thank God for this officer and his kind heart. Does ANYONE know what happened to the dog? Thank you again officer, for being who you are with a heart of gold.

John Betgeorge

you know people spend all their time looking for cops on highways , you see a cop car and you dont even slow down? oh poor lady complaining about minor injuries,,i smell a law suit…god bless the office, may he have a speedy recovery!

Alex

You smell a lawsuit? The cop doesn’t have a case. Besides, I would imagine this would be covered by worker’s comp. And…..

Alex

Oh, and I do hope the officer has a speedy recovery as well.
JusticeWarrior

Yes, he does.

Oh well

Swerving to avoid an animal on any road or freeway is a prescription for disaster my neighbor swerved to avoid hitting a cat hit the curb that resulted in her baby being thrown into the wind shield and killed. I wish the highway patrolman a speedy recovery, he cannot be alright after being hit by a car at highway speed, geez. I just put him on my prayer list.

bob

Not using the child seat/seat belt is a prescription for disaster

Alex

/agree bob

JJ

It is not in his job description to ” rescue dogs from a freeway” he choose to do it and got himself hit.

No workers comp.

Selmers

You’re an idiot!

betty

THIS IS FOR “SHOWSOMERESPECT: I agree with you, i have buried so many animals because idiots that hit them don’t have the common decency to either stop and pull them off the road or cover them or even call SPCA to pick them up.
Were I live there are a lot of cats that are killed in the roadways and just 2 weeks ago buried a feral cat that got hit in the morning and it was daylight. I know it takes awhile for SPCA to come, but in the meantime, at least remove them to the side of the road.

ShowSomeRespect

Thanks Betty … I’m glad to know there are other people out there who have a heart. I’ve pulled more than my share of “nearly deads” out of the road, whisked them to the emergency vet, only to have them die anyway. But at least the last thing they saw was not the underside of a BMW. I was in the process of coaxing a dog out of a rural road with little traffic and a clueless dipstick woman plowed right into him less than 5 feet from me … she didn’t even so much as tap her breaks … too busy talking on the phone. His eye popped out and his broken body twitched and convulsed for at least 2 mins before he was still enough for me to move. Idiot woman. She had plenty of time to see the dog in the road if she had been paying attention.

I’ve been frustrated by the lack of manpower (finances) that keeps the “Animal Shelter” from picking up the remains of animals on the roadside. I pull them off the road and then watch them as they puff up on the side of the road and no one ever comes to get them. I usually don’t bury them only because if the owner IS looking for them, they can find them.)

I wish a speedy recovery to all involved in this sad accident. (And as for the lady who’s child went through the windshield, sounds like it happened before seatbelts were invented or she just wasn’t properly using one. Very sad, in either case.)

I’d still like to know what happened to the dog, although I have a pretty good idea …

Bettyboop

All everyone thinks about it LAWSUITS. Who you gonna sue, the dog, or the brave Officer who tried to rescue it or maybe the owner of the dog who didn’t take care of the animal. My hats off to the Officer and pray he gets well soon. and as for the dog, i hope its ok too. And for the lady who try to avoid everything, hope you are doing well too
BobbyB

I always see dead animals on the road and have wondered why they are there so long. I feel this is the job of police officers to notify the animal patrol. There was a dead coon near my house for over a week on a busy street. I’m sure it had been passed and seen by hundreds of police officers. In the case of this story the police officer sounds like he takes seriously his duty to protect and serve. Thanks pal for trying!!!!
Marlene

I am very thankful that the officer was not seriously injured or worse and that the driver of the car is generally okay. It is terrible to hit an animal but the other thing about this issue is that the dog’s owner put the dog in this dangerous situaton by not taking proper care of it. What was the dog doing in the freeway in the first place? As for the driver of the car, it is always easy to say what you would do and what you have taught your children to do in this situation when you are not the one involved in the incident.
onegirl

Posted on her facebook a couple hours ago—”I got in a car accident on my way to work. My mom is really angry at me cuz the car is wrecked cuz its her car.” For real, she seems really worried about the officer…
sally

I think more of animals then I do most human beings animals can not talk back they love yu no matter what
http://www.drugalcoholrecovery.com/chp-officer-hit-by-car-on-highway-50/ CHP Officer Hit By Car On Highway 50 | Drug Alcohol Recovery

[...] CHP Officer Hit By Car On Highway 50 A CHP officer is in the hospital after he was hit while trying to catch a dog that was dodging in and out of traffic on Highway 50 Sunday night. Read more on CBS Sacramento [...]