Two sheriff’s deputies were injured early Saturday morning after a suspected drunk driver hit their parked patrol car and sent it rolling 25 feet down a rock embankment to the beach. Watch Commander Stephanie Shrout of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriffs Station said Dep. James Milage and Dep. Jeffrey Miner had just gotten back into their parked patrol car after conducting a foot patrol near Las Tunas State Beach at 12:45 a.m. Saturday along the 19400 block of Pacific Coast Highway, when they were struck from behind by a dark gray BMW. The patrol car rolled several times down a rock embankment and landed on the beach, wedged against the adjacent rock.
Los Angeles County Fire and Rescue extracted the two officers from the vehicle. Miner was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center and Milage was driven there by ambulance. Dep. Miner was treated for severe bruising to his neck and collarbone and subsequently released. Dep. Milage remained in the hospital as of 10 a.m. Saturday being evaluated for lower back injuries. Shrout said Dep. Milage was in stable condition and neither officer sustained life-threatening injuries.
Mark Liebrecht, the 44-year-old driver of the BMW that hit the parked patrol car, is being held on suspicion of driving under the influence. The charge is considered a felony because the accident resulted in injury to the deputies.