Police Patrol Car Collides With Motorcycle In Sacramento Intersection

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Investigators are trying to figure out who was at fault after an accident shut down a portion of a busy Del Paso Heights road for hours when a motorcyclist t-boned an officer in the middle of Marysville Boulevard and North Avenue.

The officer responding to a call turned on her lights and sirens. The question is, was it enough?

"It was bad, like really bad. He flew in the air," said Victor Acevedo, witnessed crash.

The aftermath stunned witnesses, who couldn't believe the man on the bike survived.

The moments before the crash were all caught on surveillance cameras by a nearby business.

"The car was coming down this way, down north," said Acevedo.

Acevedo says he witnessed the entire incident.

"(The police car0 had its lights and sirens on, probably about the first speed bump," said Acevedo.

Surveillance video shows the patrol car with lights on. At the same time, another camera briefly records the motorcyclist on Marysville Boulevard driving toward the intersection the officer is about to cross.

Acevedo said that the motorcyclist had the green light.

The cameras don't catch what happened next.

Acevedo told investigators he saw the police car turn off her sirens near an electricity pole and then turns the lights back on. He says as the officer approached the intersection she stopped where a turn arrow is and a fence blocks her view from oncoming traffic on Marysville.

"She gunned it, she didn't even check at all," said Acevedo.

Police wouldn't say who had the right of way as they conduct their investigation.

Another witness, on the opposite side of the street of Acevedo, heard the siren and then the collision.

"The police lady did her job. Most of the cars that was on the other lane stopped, even though they had the green light because they heard the siren," said Miracle Tolo.

Investigators are now trying to piece together whether it was one of their own at fault.

"It was just horrible," said Toto.

That officer has been with the department for six years. State statute says officers responding to an emergency must have their lights on and their sirens on only if they feel it necessary.