A California Highway Patrol officer died after suffering a medical emergency and crashing the SUV he was driving in Culver City as he and a partner were taking a DUI and drug possession suspect to jail.
The crash was reported just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday at Bristol Parkway near Green Valley Circle.
The officers had arrested a DUI suspect who was also allegedly found to be in possession of “a large quantity” of suspected cocaine when the one driving, later identified as 34-year-old Miguel Cano, told the other he did not feel well, according to CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee.
The other officer told his partner he did not look well and moments later the cruiser went off the road, Duryee said.
Cano was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center by Culver City Fire Department paramedics, but did not survive.
Officers gathered at the hospital, and eventually led a procession to transport the officer’s body to the medical examiner’s office.
The second officer sustained a minor injury and was treated at the scene, according to Duryee.
The suspect was also taken to a hospital, but that person’s condition was not immediately clear.
The crash occurred just a couple of blocks from the CHP’s West Los Angeles office where the suspect was being taken.
Bristol Parkway was closed in both directions from Green Valley Circle to Uplander Way, until about 9:25 a.m., the Culver City Police Department announced.
According to Duryee, Cano lived in Moreno Valley and was married but had no children.
He joined the CHP in 2023.