Driver arrested in crash into L.A. County sheriff’s recruits

LOS ANGELES — Authorities have arrested a 22-year-old driver on suspicion of tried homicide for allegedly plowing his automobile into Los Angeles County sheriff’s academy recruits on a coaching run, injuring greater than two dozen individuals.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division stated in an announcement Thursday that Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez was arrested Wednesday for investigation of tried homicide on a peace officer.

Authorities have stated {that a} man driving an SUV early Wednesday veered onto the incorrect facet of the highway in suburban Whittier, crashing into recruits on a morning run. 5 of them had been critically injured.

The scene after the crash was chaotic, and authorities stated it seemed like an airplane wreck. Deputies obtained assist from a close-by county fireplace station and instantly transported a number of the most badly injured on to hospitals.

Authorities stated a area sobriety check carried out on the motive force was damaging.

On-line jail data present Gutierrez is scheduled to look in court docket on Friday. It is not instantly identified whether or not Gutierrez has an lawyer who can converse on his behalf.

There have been about 75 recruits from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Division and several other native police businesses operating in formation on the street simply earlier than 6:30 a.m. when the crash occurred. They had been carrying white T-shirts and inexperienced shorts, and accompanied by two black-and-white radio automobiles and eight highway guards donning reflective vests as a security precaution, sheriff’s authorities stated.

Sheriff’s authorities haven’t but offered their case in opposition to Gutierrez to the Los Angeles County district lawyer’s workplace for prosecution and stated they count on to take action on Friday.

Ambrosio E. Rodriguez, a protection lawyer who beforehand labored as a prosecutor in close by Riverside County, stated to file an tried homicide cost prosecutors would want to show Gutierrez had an intent to kill.

“There’s a excessive bar to show it, to indicate this man was attempting to kill these cadets,” he stated. He stated proof obtained from the automobile may very well be vital, including {that a} key query is whether or not the motive force utilized the brakes because the automobile moved towards the recruits.

“If he’s slamming on the brakes and realizes he’s doing one thing incorrect it is vitally totally different than if he’s urgent on the fuel,” he stated.