Fiery DUI Crash Kills 3 on 605 Fwy in Whittier
September 26th – A 26-year old off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested on suspicion of DUI following a deadly multi-vehicle crash that caused 1 vehicle to burst into flames killing a teenage boy and his parents on the 605 Freeway near Pico Rivera late Tuesday night, Sept. 26th. The incident occurred around 10:20 p.m. on the southbound 605 near the Washington Boulevard exit where at least 3 vehicles were involved in the collision. LAPD authorities confirm that Edgar Omar Verduzco, 26-years old of Santa Ana, was driving a Chevy Camaro at a high rate of speed on the southbound 605 in the carpool lane when he rear-ended 2 vehicles south of Saragossa Street. The impact of Verduzco’s Chevy Camaro caused one vehicle, a Nissan, to catch fire and become fully engulfed in flames, trapping all 3 occupants inside.
A witness said he tried to help the victims after the pileup. “We couldn’t do anything,” Omar Quintanilla said, referring to himself and two other good Samaritans. “Two of them broke the windows but the flames were too intense”, said Quintanilla. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics arrived at the scene and pronounced all 3 dead. Their names have not been released, but authorities say they were a teenaged boy and his parents, all from Riverside. A 31-year old woman, who was driving a Scion, suffered minor injuries in the crash.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said he was “heartbroken” over the victims’ deaths. “I’m more than a little bit angry that one of my employees was involved,” Beck said, describing Verduzco as a military veteran who joined the LAPD 2 years ago. “On the face of it, it appears he was driving under the influence and ran into another vehicle. If that is the case, he will face the most severe discipline that I have available”, Chief Beck continued. Verduzco, who suffered a broken nose in the collision, was being held on $100,000 bail, authorities said.
During the crash investigation, a driver in a black Maserati drove through the crash investigation site, which was blocked off by orange cones. The driver was headed for a group of California Highway Patrol officers, 1 who waved a flashlight at the driver to get his attention. The driver veered across 4 lanes, crashing into a concrete freeway K-rail divider and exited the freeway at Washington Boulevard. He was later apprehended and arrested on suspicion of DUI.
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