Badly injured mountain lion put down after crash on the 15 Freeway in Devore

DEVORE, Calif. (KABC) -- All lanes of the 15 Freeway in Devore are open again after a car crashed into a mountain lion.

The incident happened 11 p.m. Sunday night on the southbound side of the freeway near Matthews Ranch Road.

The driver who hit the mountain lion said he was on his way back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas when the mountain lion jumped onto the freeway, right in front of him.

"I couldn't avoid it and I basically hit it head on. It was pretty crazy, pretty sad that I hurt an animal," said Joe Mendoza.

The mountain lion was badly hurt in the crash, so authorities decided to put it down.

The driver was not injured.