By Sean Emery
The Orange County Register
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — A drunken driving suspect crashed into an ambulance taking a patient to a hospital Friday afternoon, injuring several paramedics, fire officials said.
A Toyota pickup struck the driver’s side of the ambulance as it was leaving a neighborhood at Tasman Drive and turning onto Bolsa Chica Street just before 2:30 p.m., Huntington Beach Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Lopez said.
The ambulance reportedly had its lights and sirens on at the time of the collision.
Two ambulance drivers from the Huntington Beach Fire Department and two Orange County Fire Authority paramedics were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Lopez said.
The patient was uninjured during the crash, Lopez said, and was taken to the hospital in a different ambulance.
Police arrested the pickup driver, Tristan Johnson, 36, of Bellflower, on suspicion of driving under the influence. Johnson was not injured, Lopez said.
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