Police arrest man they say crashed into ambulance

A suspected drunk driver was arrested last week in Huntington Beach after crashing into an ambulance transporting a patient to the hospital, officials said.

Tristan Johnson, 36, of Bellflower, was arrested Nov. 4 after injuring four public safety officials inside the vehicle, said Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Lopez.

Johnson was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence, said police Lt. Russell Reinhart.

A Huntington Beach Fire Department ambulance was transporting a patient to the hospital at 2:20 p.m. when a Toyota pick-up truck smashed into the driver's side of the ambulance as it was pulling out of a residential neighborhood at Tasman Drive onto Bolsa Chica Street, Lopez said.

Two ambulance operators and two Orange County Fire Authority paramedics were injured. They were transported to the hospital for minor injuries.

Johnson was also injured, Lopez said.

The patient was unharmed and transported to the hospital in a different ambulance.

—Britney Barnes