Atwater police officer, other man injured in major collision

Two people suffered major injuries Wednesday, including an Atwater police officer, in a two-vehicle collision at East Bellevue Road and Granite Drive.

Officer David Sarginson, 39, was knocked unconscious and suffered other unspecified injuries described as “major,” Atwater Police Lt. Samuel Joseph confirmed.

Sarginson was flown to a regional hospital. Joseph and Police Chief Frank Pietro were with Sarginson and his family at the hospital late Wednesday, police said.

Atwater Police Sgt. Dick Wisdom said officers wouldn’t know about Sarginson’s condition until he had been fully evaluated by medical staff.

“He was unconscious for a time, I don’t know for how long exactly, but even when he woke up, he didn’t seem coherent or completely aware,” Wisdom said. “In a collision like this, both parties could have other injuries we won’t know about until the doctors take a good look.”

The other man, 34-year-old David Macias Rodriguez, suffered injuries to his shoulder and was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Merced. A child traveling with Rodriguez, a 5-year-old girl, was not injured, the California Highway Patrol reported.

An update on Rodriguez’s condition was also unavailable Wednesday.

CHP Officer Moises Onsurez said Sarginson was responding just before 3:30 p.m. to a call and was driving west on Bellevue, behind two other police cars, with his lights and sirens activated.

Wisdom said the officers were scrambling to assist police detectives in a foot pursuit with several suspected gang members, one of whom was believed to have been armed, in the area of Swaps and Kelso streets.

Two of the responding officers made it through the intersection of East Bellevue Road and Granite Drive, but Sarginson, who was behind the others, collided with Rodriguez’s 2003 Cadillac CTS. All three officers were driving through a red traffic light to respond to the emergency call, the CHP said.

Onsurez said the Cadillac was turning left at the intersection from Granite Drive onto East Bellevue when the two vehicles collided head-on. The CHP is conducting the collision investigation, which is standard procedure in Atwater any time an officer is involved in a collision.

Wisdom said the suspected gang members escaped during the foot chase, and Atwater police are continuing their investigation into that incident.

Sarginson has been an Atwater police officer for nearly 13 years, according to the department.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Atwater police officer, other man injured in major collision."