A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer was airlifted to a hospital with moderate injuries on Thursday afternoon after crashing off Highway 101 a half-mile south of Nojoqui Summit in Santa Barbara County, according to Santa Barbara County Fire spokesperson Scott Safechuck.
The officer, whose name has not been released, was traveling southbound near a road construction area north of the Gaviota Tunnel around 2 p.m. when the officer’s motorcycle went off the highway and down a grassy embankment. Santa Barbara County firefighters and paramedics responding to the scene transported the officer to a landing zone on the highway to be taken by helicopter to the hospital. While the officer was originally headed for Santa Barbara’s Cottage Hospital, weather on the South Coast caused the helicopter to be rerouted to Marion Medical Center in Santa Maria.
No further information on the officer’s condition or the cause of the crash is available at this time.
