Del Cerro Elementary School was on lockdown today and an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy suffered injuries while pursuing a motorcyclist traveling at a high rate of speed.
The incident happened around 11:44 a.m. when California Highway Patrol officers spotted two motorcyclists traveling at more than 120 miles per hour southbound on the I-5 Freeway. One driver yielded to police while the remaining motorcyclist exited the freeway at Oso Parkway and continued westbound into Laguna Hills. The motorcyclist sped through surface streets and a Laguna Hills motorcycle deputy spotted him on Alicia Parkway. The deputy pursued the man into Mission Viejo where the Laguna Hills motor deputy collided with a Honda near Alicia and Charlinda.
The deputy sustained a broken ankle from the collision and was later transported to the hospital. The fleeing motorcyclist continued on and abandoned his motorcycle in the area of Muirlands Boulevard and Troy Street. School Resource Deputies immediately locked down Del Cerro Elementary School while other deputies searched the area. The suspect was not seen on the school campus, but it was locked down as a precaution. The suspect, Matthew Brand, was taken into custody in the area of Regina and Delta a short time later.
I was on I-5 (I was going to the mall at Mission Viejo) when the first motorcycle came blazing past me. I’ve never in my whole life seen a motorcycle travel at such a high speed. He was even leaning to the side as he was changing lanes. When he passed by, I thought he was going to cause a terrible accident. Then I saw the CHP car go by and he had to go into the Commuter lane to chase after the motorcycle. He was going so fast, I was worried for his safety too. I was actually nauseous thinking i was giung to see a massive accident happen ahead of me. Then, I saw the second motorcycle go by super fast too! I could NOT believe what was going on. We are all lucky no one died on I-5 today. I feel badly that the officer broke his ankle.
I can not believe that. I just got off the 1-5 at El Toro. I am so glad that I missed it. I feel so sorry for the Sheriff Deputy that broke his ankle. Like the k=lady said above we are all so glad that no one was killed.
So glad we have the Sheriff Department, Keep all of you safe and God Bless.
Wow, so sorry to hear about Matthew. They are a wonderful family and certainly don’t deserve this. One can only hope that Matt learns from this tough life lesson.
I live on Charlinda and Alicia, and saw the accident on my way to work. It looked bad. Cop hit the sedan and smashed their trunk almost to the back seat. Cop bike looked like it broke in half. I’m surprised the officer survived.