*UPDATED 11 a.m. Saturday* According to Redondo Beach Police Chief Joe Leonardi, Timothy Lindley, the truck driver involved in the accident, was taken into custody by the Sheriff’s department on suspicion of felony DUI. The L.A Sheriff’s department confirmed that he is being held on $20,000 bail. Police at the scene initially reported that the crash was not DUI related.
Shortly after midnight on Friday an RBPD police cruiser and a Dodge Ram truck collided at the intersection of Inglewood Avenue and 170th Street, on the border of Redondo Beach and Lawndale. Nobody was seriously injured.
According to the Dodge truck driver, Lawndale resident Timothy Lindley, he was attempting to cross to 170th Street from Voorhees Road in Redondo Beach to get to his home a block away in Lawndale. The police car, driven by an unidentified Redondo Beach police officer, was going north on Inglewood Avenue at a high rate of speed without his siren or emergency lights on, Lindley said.
“The officer was flying down the road. He hit me and I spun into a tree. That guy [messed] my whole truck up — he knocked off both my tires, where’s my other wheel?” Lindley said.
A neighbor drawn to the scene by the sound of the crash, pointed towards the missing tire. “It’s across the street.”
Four lanes across Inglewood Avenue, one of Lindley’s back tires rested near a group of about a dozen onlookers. The other back wheel was nowhere to be seen.
“The officer had a few bumps and bruises” said Sgt. Scott Weibel, looking at the destroyed front-end of the police car. “He is tall so he couldn’t get out the driver’s side and had to crawl out. The other guy was okay.”
According to Weibel the officer was transported to a local hospital for “precautionary measures.”
“I’ve had the truck for 10 years and haven’t been in a [darn] accident,” said Lindley, “It’s only worth about $5,000, now it’s worth nothing.”
Police at the scene reported that no drugs or alcohol contributed to the incident. However, Lindley was later arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and is being held at the L.A Sheriff’s department on a $20,000 bail.
“He spun me 360 [degrees] and I hit the tree,” Lindley said. “I’m more like in shock to have a cop car coming towards me, he spun me like a pit maneuver.”
Lindley speculated that the officer who hit him probably didn’t see him until the last second.
“I’m not a mechanic or anything but I’m pretty sure that car’s seen it’s last day,” said Weibel. “Both of them actually.”
Police officers said that it is routine practice to have the accident investigated by the Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s not a DUI, it’s not a hit-and-run, it’s just an accident,” said Weibel. According to the L.A. Sheriff’s department, it was later determined the driver was allegedly intoxicated. Lindley bonded out Monday morning.
