Officer suffers injuries after tree crushes CHP vehicle traveling Highway 17 during storm

SANTA CRUZ — One law enforcement official escaped without significant injuries after a tree fell onto his car while driving along Highway 17 at the tail end of this past week’s powerful atmospheric river storm.

At about 5:40 p.m. Thursday, California Highway Patrol officers were called to a crash south of Summit Road along the notoriously dangerous highway and discovered two vehicles at the scene. A Los Gatos woman was driving a black 2013 Audi Q5 southbound on the busy thoroughfare while the CHP officer was driving northbound in a black-and-white 2021 Ford Explorer patrol vehicle. Both cars were moving at an undetermined speed, according to a CHP release.

Because of the heavy rainfall and stormy conditions, a tree on the west side of the southbound lanes fell and landed on top of both the Audi and the CHP vehicle. The officer suffered minor injuries and was transported to a local hospital, while the woman driving the Audi left without any injuries.

The crash is being investigated by the CHP, according to the agency’s release.

Zayante incident

Meanwhile, several hours later, another dangerous roadway incident occurred along Zayante Road in the San Lorenzo Valley. The Zayante Fire Protection District shared in a social media statement that it was alerted to a crash at 2:15 a.m. Friday along the 7350 block of East Zayante Road.

Upon arrival, the units discovered a 20-year-old woman climbing up an embankment from Zayante Creek. Her Subaru Crosstrek had veered off the road, officials wrote, and the car severed a communication line before tumbling about 125 feet down the embankment. The fire agency wrote that all of the car’s air bags deployed and the vehicle’s design “favored the outcome.” The post did not specify if the driver sustained any major injuries, but did say she summoned another ride.

Fire crews, with help from a tow company, were able to pull the vehicle out of the embankment, though it emerged with heavy damage to its front end.