Video Shows Man on Motor Scooter Ran Red Before Hitting Police Cruiser

Surveillance video from a nearby gas station shows that a 28-year-old man apparently ran a red light and then crashed his motor scooter into a Santa Monica Police Department cruiser, killing him, a television station reported today.

ABC7 reported that employees at the AM/PM Mini-Market at Pico Boulevard and Fourth Street, across from Santa Monica High School, reviewed their surveillance video. The workers told ABC7 that it appears the man on the motor scooter ran a red light at the signal.

The crash occurred about 7:40 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Fourth Street, California Highway Patrol Officer Karina Munoz said.

The victim was operating a 2013 scooter headed east on Pico, and the officer was in a patrol vehicle traveling north on Fourth Street, she said.

The man was pronounced dead at a hospital, she said.

The officer suffered moderate injuries and she also was taken to a hospital for treatment, Munoz said. Her age was not disclosed.

It was unclear if she was responding to a call at the time of the crash, which remains under investigation.

The city of Santa Monica also has video of the crash from street cameras and has turned it over to the CHP, which is conducting the crash probe as an outside agency.

--City News Service