A 36-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder Monday for a 2025 crash on the San Diego (405) Freeway near Bel-Air that killed a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant and another motorist.
Mario Joseph Bickham was arrested Monday morning and was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, according to jail records.
He was charged Monday with two counts of murder stemming from the 2 a.m. June 23, 2025, crash which occurred on the southbound 405 Freeway just north of Moraga Drive. The crash killed 53-year-old LAPD Sgt. Shiou Deng and 34-year-old Jesus Garcia.
Bickham could appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for arraignment as early as Tuesday.
“Sergeant Deng lived his life the way most of us wish we could — with kindness, with humor, and with purpose,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said at Deng’s funeral last year. “He didn’t just do the job, he lifted up people doing it beside him. He made people laugh when they needed it most. He made them feel seen, valued and included.”
During a news conference Monday after with McDonnell and District Attorney Nathan Hochman, California Highway Patrol Southern Division Chief Chris Margaris said Bickham was allegedly driving more than 112 mph when the crash occurred.
Garcia had just finished his shift at Whole Foods in Woodland Hills and was on his way home when he was struck on the freeway by a hit-and-run driver, leaving his Toyota pickup disabled in the southbound HOV lane. The hit-and-run driver has never been identified or located, Hochman said.
A short time later, while Garcia’s Toyota was disabled, another car swerved to avoid the pickup, and wound up striking the freeway median and stopping a few hundred feet away, Hochman said.
Deng then arrived on the scene in his patrol vehicle and activated his emergency lights to alert oncoming motorists of the disabled vehicles. After Deng activated his lights, 33 other vehicles safely drove past the area without incident, but Bickham approached the scene in a Nissan sedan at 112 mph, slamming into the patrol SUV and the sergeant, the district attorney said.
Garcia, who was outside his vehicle, was struck and died at the scene, while Deng was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, where he was pronounced dead. Bickham also suffered major injuries in the crash but survived.
According to Hochman, Bickham had multiple prior citations for speeding, including one he received for driving more than 105 mph just one month before the fatal crash on the 405 Freeway. Hochman said Bickham was cited in that case and ordered to appear in court, but he failed to show up.
A GoFundMe page created by Garcia’s family described him as “a loving son, brother, uncle, and friend whose kindness and warmth touched everyone he met.”
According to McDonnell, Deng was promoted to sergeant in 2023 and was assigned to the department’s West Los Angeles Division. Deng had 26 1/2 years on the LAPD, 17 of which he served in the LAPD Mental Evaluation Unit.