Car hits, injures woman on bike in Empire

EMPIRE -- A woman suffered major injuries when she was struck by a car and pinned beneath it in Empire on Thursday afternoon.

The woman, whose name was not available Thursday, had been riding a small bicycle near E and First streets around 2:30 p.m. when she was hit by a Mitsubishi Galant driven by Maribel Rodriguez.

California Highway Patrol officer Chuck Leon said some reports at the scene indicated the woman fell off her bicycle and was lying on the ground when she was hit, but that could not be confirmed. Rodriguez said she never saw the woman when she turned south onto E street after stopping at a stop sign on First Street.

The bicyclist was run over by the front tires of the Mitsubishi and then pinned under the back left tire. Firefighters had to use a car jack to get the vehicle off her.

Leon said the woman suffered multiple lacerations to the right side of her body and possibly a broken leg, but she was alert and conscious as paramedics loaded her into an ambulance.

Leon said Rodriguez was not using a cell phone at the time of the accident, and drugs and alcohol are not believed to be a contributing factor.

Rodriguez and her 11-year-old son, who was in the car with her, were not injured.