A Los Angeles police officer was involved in a deadly multi-vehicle crash that killed one person, injured two others and shut down the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway in the Brentwood area early Monday morning, authorities said.
The crash was reported to the California Highway Patrol at 1:58 a.m. on the southbound San Diego Freeway just north of Moraga Drive. A silver truck was blocking the HOV lane. It was reported later that three vehicles were involved.
One person died at the scene, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz. Two patients were taken by ambulance to hospitals.
A rescue helicopter was landed on the freeway, according to the CHP, but an officer could not confirm whether it took any victims from the scene.
CHP Officer Sergio Garcia told City News Service it appeared one of the injured was a police officer.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman later confirmed that one of its officers was involved in the crash, but was unable to provide further details, including the officer’s condition.
The officer was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where LAPD brass and a chaplain were on hand, according to KNX.
The deceased person’s body remained on the far left lane of the freeway five hours after the crash as investigators awaited medical examiner’s personnel.
The CHP issued a SigAlert at 2:22 a.m. shutting down the southbound lanes at Getty Center Drive and the Skirball and Sepulveda Boulevard on-ramps. The northbound lanes were closed at about 3 a.m. as well as the Moraga Drive on- ramp.
Northbound lanes were reopened at 4:23 a.m., but southbound lanes remained closed as of 7 a.m. with traffic diverted at the Ventura (101) Freeway.