2 Officers Injured in Freeway Roadside Crash : Traffic: CHP patrolmen were arresting an alleged drunk driver when squad car is hit by a second auto, also driven by a DUI suspect.

FULLERTON — Two California Highway Patrol officers who were arresting an alleged drunk driver early Thursday on the Riverside Freeway were struck and injured, but not seriously, by another suspected drunk driver, authorities said.

The second driver, whose vehicle was disabled upon impact, was arrested almost immediately by other officers who heard a radio report of the accident. It was the second time in a day that a CHP vehicle in Orange County had been struck by an alleged drunk driver.

In the first crash, Officers Jeff Keul and Willis Whited were struck while standing to the right of their patrol car during an arrest near State College Boulevard.

Officers cited the first driver, whose name was not available, on suspicion of misdemeanor drunk driving. She was sitting in the back of the patrol car talking to Keul through the open rear door, CHP Officer Joan Rivas said, when an eastbound auto struck the rear of the cruiser. Whited was standing near the right side of the front bumper at the time, Rivas said.

The force of the impact pushed the police car into the officers, throwing the officers about 20 feet down a dirt embankment, Rivas said. The auto then careened back onto the freeway and struck a UPS truck.

“The odd thing is our officers were trying to get people driving under the influence off the road,” Rivas said. “And they do get one, and what happens? They’re hit by another one.”

Keul was in stable condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Thursday after suffering facial cuts and internal injuries, Rivas said. Whited was treated at Anaheim Memorial Hospital. The driver of the UPS truck and both alleged drunk drivers did not need medical attention, authorities said.

The driver of the sedan, Tony Joongdon Choi, 20, of Lakewood was jailed on suspicion of felony drunk driving in lieu of $10,000 bail, a jail spokeswoman said. Choi had received a speeding ticket in January and has no outstanding warrants, according to records from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Keul is a five-year veteran, and Whited has been with the CHP for six years. Officials said the two officers probably were not more seriously injured because they followed CHP procedures during the stop. “For safety reasons, all officers try to stand on the side that is away from traffic, or the right side,” CHP Officer Denise Medina said.

Thursday’s accident occurred just hours after another CHP vehicle was struck by an alleged drunk driver on the San Diego Freeway in Seal Beach. The officer, Krista Crocker, was not injured. The driver, James Timothy Marzano, 38, of Yorba Linda was cited on suspicion of misdemeanor drunk driving and released.

Crocker had been driving north on the San Diego Freeway at the San Gabriel River Freeway when Marzano’s car swerved into the patrol car, Rivas said. Both vehicles went off the roadway and came to a stop.