CHP officer injured in accident near Red Bluff

A California Highway Patrol officer was flown by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Redding after suffering major injuries in a collision about 6:40 p.m. Thursday.

Sgt. Jeff Ross said the 22-year officer out of the Red Bluff office was traveling south on Highway 99 in Dairyville — eight miles southeast of Red Bluff — when he received a call to assist another law enforcement agency.

"It appears he pulled to the shoulder of the southbound lane and was in the process of making a U-turn ... when he was struck broadside by a southbound Jeep Cherokee," Ross said. "We do believe he had his emergency lights on at the time of the collision."

The officer's name was not released pending notification of family.

Ross said the officer was conscious and alert as he was extricated from the patrol car.

The driver and passenger in the Jeep did not appear to have suffered serious injury, Ross said.

He said the people in the Jeep were a man and woman in their 30s.

CHP Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team out of the Northern Division Redding Office was on scene to investigate the crash.