A Merced police officer escaped injuries early Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to the area of M street and Olivewood Drive at around 12:35 for a Merced Police officer who had crashed into a downed tree branch.

The California Highway Patrol responded to investigate the crash, at this time it appears the officer was traveling Northbound on “M” street when he hit a large branch on the roadway.

The impact caused major damage to the police cruiser.

“The officer is lucky he was not injured, the tree branch could’ve gone through the windshield if it was not because of the push bar on the bumper”, CHP told Merced GW News.

The identity of the officer was not available at the scene, no injuries were reported.

Additional details were not immediately available.