First he broadsided a patrol car. Then he ran away, leaving his passenger behind

Modesto police are looking for a man who drove his car into a patrol car and ran away from the scene. The officer suffered minor injuries.

The crash occurred about 12:50 a.m. Monday at Carver Road and Standiford Avenue, according to Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear.

An officer was driving east on Standiford and crossed the intersection at a green light, Bear said. At the same time, a white Hyundai was traveling south at Carver.

The driver tried to turn left onto Standiford while the light on Carver was red; the Hyundai broadsided the patrol car, she said.

The collision sent the police car into a sign and a bus bench, and the Hyundai into a signal box, Bear said.

“The driver of the Hyundai fled on foot and was not located,” she said.

The driver left behind a female passenger, who was taken to a local hospital and cleared. The officer, whose name was not released, suffered minor injuries, Bear said.

The patrol vehicle sustained significant damage. “We are extremely lucky that our officer wasn’t seriously injured,” Bear said.

Authorities are trying to determine who the driver was.

“The female in the Hyundai was not cooperative, and did not identify the driver as of this morning,” Bear said.

The driver is described as a white or Latino male adult roughly in his 20s, 6 feet tall, with a thin build and short brown hair.

This story was originally published August 6, 2018 at 11:50 AM.