From this morning's Modesto Bee:
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/12984918p-13635637c.html
"Officer can't recall violent impact that destroyed his vehicle
By CHRIS TOGNERI
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: November 8, 2006, 06:13:17 AM PST
A California Highway Patrol officer who crashed his car into a 2,000-pound cow remained hospitalized Tuesday.
Officer Rayce Zamarripa suffered a concussion and severe facial lacerations in the Monday night accident, CHP officials said. His injuries are not life-threatening.
Zamarripa, 27, of Atwater, crashed his patrol car into the cow west of Modesto on Gates Road, north of Shoemake Avenue, Sgt. Ted Melden said.
The impact destroyed the car and killed the cow. The cow rolled up onto the hood, shattered the windshield and ripped off most of the roof.
Officials believe the cow came through the windshield and hit Zamarripa on the left side of his head, causing him to lose consciousness. Doctors found cow hair in Zamarripa's left ear.
With Zamarripa belted inside, the patrol car rolled north on Gates for 660 feet, crashed into a Modesto Irrigation District power pole, went through a barbed-wire fence and stopped in a cabbage field.
The CHP believes that the crash occurred at 9:55 p.m., when the MID reported a power failure in the area. Several homes on Gates, between Shoemake and Beckwith Road, were without power until 8:21 a.m., MID spokeswoman Maree Haw-kins said.
2 in truck also hit cow, injured
Two other men were injured when their truck ran over the dead cow minutes after Zamarripa crashed. They were treated for minor injuries at Doctors Medical Center, Melden said.
Zamarripa does not remember the crash.
When paramedics and fellow CHP officers arrived, he was standing outside his patrol car, alert but dazed, Melden said. He had exited his car alone, somehow avoiding several live wires from the power pole that burned his car in several spots.
Officials do not know how fast Zamarripa was driving when he hit the cow.
"It was dark out, the cow was dark in color, and he just didn't see it," Melden said. "Just like the guy behind him ? he didn't see the cow either."
"It serves as a reminder," CHP officer Tom Killian said, that everyone should drive carefully and slow down.
The CHP is investigating the crash and how the cow got onto the road.
The cow's owner will not be charged with a crime, Killian said.
"We live in a rural area (and) cattle get out," Killian said. "There's no criminal intent. The owner wants the same answers. That's his livelihood."
The CHP tracks crashes involving cars versus animals, but does not keep specific statistics on crashes involving cars versus cows.
In Stanislaus County, 34 people were injured in crashes with animals from January 2003 to June 2006. Three injuries were "severe" but none resulted in death, CHP statistics show.
Tuesday morning at CHP headquarters on Kiernan Avenue in north Modesto, the injured officer's father shook his head while surveying the wrecked remains of his son's patrol car.
"His number wasn't picked yet," Richard Zamarripa said, his eyes watering and his voice choked with emotion. "He's lucky. It's hard to think this happened to your son."
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