A Los Angeles police sergeant and a motorist in his 30s were killed Monday morning when the sergeant stopped on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway to assist the man and both were struck by another vehicle.
The deadly multi-vehicle crash shut down the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway in the Brentwood area.
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 where a silver truck was blocking the HOV lane. It was reported later that three vehicles were involved.
The motorist died at the scene, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz. Two patients, including the police sergeant, were taken by ambulance to hospitals.
A rescue helicopter was landed on the freeway, according to the CHP, but did not transport anyone.
The sergeant was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, Mayor Karen Bass and a chaplain were on hand, according to reporters at the scene who confirmed the sergeant’s death.
The body of the deceased motorist remained along the left side of the freeway hours after the crash as investigators awaited medical examiner’s personnel and continued to process the scene.
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 reopened at 4:23 a.m., but southbound lanes remained closed as of 7 a.m. with traffic diverted at the Ventura (101) Freeway.
Southbound freeway traffic was at a standstill well into the morning commute.
Drivers taking Sepulveda Boulevard as an alternative were able to get back onto the southbound 405 at Moraga Drive.