California Highway Patrol officer charged with murder over L.A. crash that killed four

A former California Highway Patrol officer was charged with murder on Monday for his role in a chain-reaction crash that left four people dead on the 605 Freeway near Norwalk last Summer, authorities said.

Angelo Rodriguez, 24, allegedly slammed his patrol car into a Nissan Versa near the Rosecrans Avenue exit of the 605 Freeway South on July 20th, disabling the car, authorities have previously said. Rodriguez was driving at a speed of at least 130 miles per hour and was not responding to a call for service, according to Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman.

Instead of rendering aid to the people he hit or turning on lights and sirens to warn other motorists of the accident scene, Rodriguez sat in his damaged cruiser for nearly three minutes, Hochman said Monday.

“He doesn’t go ahead and radio in the accident that just occurred. He takes absolutely no steps to deal with the disabled Nissan he has just crashed into,” Hochman said. “At one point he actually gets out and inspects the damage to his own car.”

Hochman said the officer did report a crash to a CHP dispatcher, but did not disclose that he had caused it.

Minutes later, as the Nissan sat disabled in an HOV lane, a second car driving at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour crashed into the vehicle, causing an explosion. The driver of that car, Iris Salmeron, was allegedly drunk and has also been charged with murder, Hochman said.

Julie Hamori, 23, Armand Del Campo, 24, Jordan Partridge and Samantha Skocilik all died at the scene.

“These cases are some of the hardest cases I have to talk about,” Hochman said. “Cases where this horrible tragedy could have been prevented had this officer not been driving at ridiculously high speeds for no reason whatsoever.”

Hochman said prosecutors decided to bring murder charges against the officer because the initial crash was a “substantial factor” in the victims’ deaths.

The other driver involved in the fatal crash, Salmeron, had been drinking at a restaurant and a friends house, and sent a text message that night proclaiming she intended to get “f—-ed up,” Hochman said.

A criminal complaint had not been filed as of Monday morning, but Hochman said both defendants are expected to be arraigned in the Bellflower Courthouse on Tuesday. Rodriguez has been fired by CHP, Hochman said. Prosecutors will ask a judge to hold both defendants in lieu of $8 million bail, Hochman said.

Information about defense attorneys for Rodriguez and Salmeron was not immediately available. A CHP spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions from The Times.

The four victims were driving home from a concert on the night of the wreck and several contacted their families after the initial crash, according to attorney Darren Aitken, who represents the families in a civil lawsuit against the CHP.

None of them were seriously injured after the first crash, according to Aitken, who said the victims were alive at the time Salmeron hit the Nissan and caused the fire. Hamori and Del Campo were engaged, said attorney Tom Feher.

“It’s incomprehensible,” Atiken said. “CHP officers know to secure scenes. They know the risk of drunk drivers on the freeway.”

Aitken and Fehrer said they have heard from a “credible source” that Rodriguez had been involved in prior accidents during his three years as a CHP officer. Hochman said he could not comment on the reason for Rodriguez’s firing or a motive for his actions on the day of the fatal wreck.

“When you talk about this being a tragedy it is one that is entirely preventable and it’s not just a failure on an individual level but on a systemic level as well,” Fehrer said. “Why is it that the CHP allowed for this particular officer to even be on the road? How many other CHP officers are like this one that are driving with reckless disregard?”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.