CALIFORNIA OFFICER STRUCK BY TRUCK

An angry woman sideswiped a Barstow police officer with her truck in the Barstow Junior High parking lot Wednesday morning, leaving paint marks on the officer's gun belt. According to the Barstow Sheriff's Department the police officer was writing her son a citation, and the mother was unhappy with that and ran into the officer. The police officer is in OK condition. The sheriff's department arrested the driver of the truck, Maria Rassmussen, 40, for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Witnesses said the truck had plenty of room to maneuver around the officer. John Rader, spokesman for the city, said the police officer was writing a citation for parking in a red zone.

The Barstow Police department asked the sheriff's department to take over the investigation because the victim is a police officer and because the arrested suspect is related to a member of the police department, Ciolli said.