Four people were injured Saturday evening when a Santa Barbara County sheriff’s patrol vehicle rear-ended an ambulance that was transporting a County Jail prisoner to the hospital, according to the county Fire Department.

The crash occurred shortly after 6 p.m. on Calle Real at Old Mill Road, Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said.

He said the American Medical Response ambulance was headed to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with a jail inmate who had sustained a head injury.

When the driver of the ambulance slowed for a traffic signal that had changed to yellow from green, the deputy who was following from behind struck the rear of the AMR rig, Eliason said.

The deputy suffered head injuries, while the ambulance driver, another paramedic and a second deputy inside the ambulance sustained minor injuries, he said.

All were transported to Cottage Hospital for treatment of their injuries.

Their names and details on their conditions were not available.

The jail patient also was taken to Cottage Hospital.

The incident remained under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.