By Melissa Phy
The Chula Vista police officer who was transported by air on Wednesday after a three-vehicle collision on state Route 78 remains hospitalized but is "awake and talking," the U-T San Diego reported, but a teen driver from Ramona may face charges.
The paper reported the injured officer's identity as Nathaniel Walker, 33, and said he is expected to make a full recovery from the injuries suffered in the Ramona crash California High Patrol is saying may have been caused by a texting teen driver.
Ramona Water Board Director Rex Schildhouse, 61, of Ramona was also involved in the accident and was hospitalized with moderate injuries, the U-T said.
According to CHP Public Information Officer Brian Pennings, Schildhouse was driving eastbound on SR 78 in a 2006 Chevy HHR was attempting to make a left turn onto Earlham Street just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
A 17-year-old Ramona High School student in a 2011 Ford Fusion behind him was unaware that he had stopped to yield to oncoming traffic and rear-ended the Chevy, propelling the car into oncoming westbound traffic, authorities said.
Walker was ejected from his motorcycle and his "entire lower body ended up inside the Ford on the right front passenger seat, and that he missed the metal bar around the windshield by four inches," according to the U-T.
The 17-year-old teen driver, a senior at Ramona High School, was also hospitalized with moderate injuries. Her condition and name have not been released.
According to Pennings, there is evidence the 17-year-old driver was texting just before the collision. She was on a provisional license that she just received in February, the officer said.
The U-T reported that the young female driver face charges when the investigation concludes.
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