Driver Killed in Commerce Crash Involving Sheriff’s Vehicle

LOS ANGELES, CA – A civilian driver died early Thursday after a Los Angeles County sheriff’s vehicle struck the driver’s car at a Commerce intersection, setting off a three-vehicle collision. The deputy suffered minor injuries, while the driver of the third vehicle was not hurt in the chain-reaction crash.

The collision occurred at about 1:20 a.m. Oct. 8 at South Atlantic Boulevard and Sheila Street. The deputy was traveling toward Cudahy after dispatchers received a report of an unconscious person lying in the road near the 4500 block of Clara Street. The sheriff’s department said the patrol vehicle’s lights and siren were operating during the emergency response.

The deputy entered the intersection and struck the first civilian car, according to the department’s preliminary account. That impact sent the car into another vehicle. Each civilian vehicle carried one adult, and the driver first hit by the patrol vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

Other deputies traveling to the original medical call stopped and rendered aid after the collision. They requested Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel, who responded to the intersection. The injured deputy was taken to a hospital with injuries described as minor. Investigators did not report any injury to the third driver.

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Commerce Intersection Closed During Investigation

Images from the scene showed heavy damage across the front of the sheriff’s sport utility vehicle. Investigators cordoned off the intersection while they documented the vehicles and roadway. Atlantic Boulevard south of Washington Boulevard remained closed during the Thursday morning commute. Yellow caution tape surrounded the crash scene while the damaged vehicles remained in the intersection.

The sheriff’s department had not publicly identified the deputy. The civilian driver’s identity was not included in the department’s initial account, and the third driver also was not identified. The original medical call was in Cudahy, while the collision occurred in Commerce as the deputy traveled toward that emergency.

The department confirmed that emergency warning equipment was active, but that fact alone did not establish how the vehicles entered the intersection or who had the right of way. The released accounts did not describe the vehicles’ travel directions, their speeds, the traffic-signal sequence or whether any driver attempted to avoid the impact.

Investigators had not assigned fault or announced any citation by the time of the latest reports. The deputy’s emergency response, the initial impact with the civilian car and the resulting second collision remained part of the department’s active review.

The crash investigation continued after the roadway reopened. Authorities had not released a final account explaining the collision or determining whether any driving decision, roadway condition or other factor contributed to the driver’s death.