FILE - Police lights.
LAFAYETTE, Calif. - A Walnut Creek man was arrested in Lafayette on Friday afternoon after allegedly rear-ending a police car.
The Lafayette Police Department cruiser was stopped in traffic in the 3600 block of Mt. Diablo Blvd., near the Lafayette BART Station, just before 2:20 p.m. on Friday when a driver crashed into the car from behind, according to a department statement.
The force of the crash caused the police car to crash into the vehicle in front of it. The first car suffered major damage to its front portion, while the police car suffered major damage to its back and minor damage to its front, and the third car suffered only minor damages.
However, the crash prompted a small fire to ignite in the trunk of the police car, which officers quickly doused with a fire extinguisher.
Two LPD officers and the driver of the first vehicle were treated at a local hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.
The driver of the first vehicle – subsequently identified as 67-year-old Kevin Bell of Walnut Creek – was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility.
Bell is being held on $200,000 bail, according to the LPD.
The Source: Lafayette Police Department