Police officer thrown off motorcycle in Fairfield crash

FAIRFIELD — A Fairfield police motorcycle officer was injured Wednesday morning in a traffic accident that closed a section of West Texas Street for more than an hour.

The accident took place at 8 a.m. and involved a veteran motorcycle officer in uniform who was on duty doing traffic enforcement, Fairfield Police Officer Cleo Mayoral said. He collided with a sedan and was thrown from the motorcycle. He was taken to NorthBay Medical Center with minor injuries such as bruising, Mayoral said.

Mayoral identified the officer as Jimmie Williams, a 12-year law enforcement veteran.

Witnesses said the officer was heading west on West Texas Street when a car pulled out of a commercial driveway.

“They hit,” said Ashley O’Sullivan, who witnessed the accident from a nearby car. “The motorcycle did maybe a 360, close to a circle. He (the officer) flew off the bike and landed face down. He was conscious.”

Joseph Youngblood was driving west on West Texas Street a half-block or so behind the officer. He said a car pulled out in front of the officer.

As soon as the words “officer down” went over the police scanner, more than a dozen police, California Highway Patrol and Fire Department vehicles descended on the scene, sirens blaring and lights flashing. The accident took place on the 1600 block of West Texas Street, just east of Allan Witt Park.

The motorcycle after the accident sat in the far westbound lane, its fender bent, a few pieces of debris such as a rear-view window on the street. The sedan involved in the accident was nearby in an eastbound lane, engine still running.

The driver of the sedan talked to California Highway Patrol officers, then sat down on the curb. He declined to comment to the press.

Mayoral said the CHP is handling the investigation, which is police protocol when one of its own units is involved in an accident. No arrests were made in connection with the incident and drugs and alcohol weren’t a factor, he said.

Police initially said a medical helicopter could be flying in to take the officer to the hospital. However, the officer went to the hospital by ambulance.

Yellow tape stretched across West Texas Street at Gregory Street and at Fifth Street, closing it to traffic. West Texas Street reopened at about 9:15 a.m.

Williams was released from the hospital early Wednesday afternoon and was doing well, according to Mayoral.

Reach Barry Eberling at 427-6929 or beberling@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beberlingdr.

Barry Eberling

Barry Eberling has been a reporter with the Daily Republic since 1987. He covers Solano County government, transportation, growth and the environment. He received his bachelors of art degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.

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