Executive Summary
- An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer died in a fiery, single-vehicle crash in Saugus early Saturday morning.
- The officer’s Tesla struck a utility pole and was fully engulfed in flames when first responders arrived.
- The identity of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
- A separate, unrelated DUI arrest was made after another vehicle drove through the crash scene.
An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was killed early Saturday morning in a single-vehicle collision in the Saugus area of Santa Clarita, authorities confirmed. The crash occurred just after 2 a.m. at the intersection of Cinema Drive and Bouquet Canyon Road, where the vehicle struck a utility pole and became engulfed in flames.
According to Capt. Brandon Barclay of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, deputies responded to a report of an unconscious person trapped inside a burning Tesla. First responders arrived to find the vehicle heavily damaged with live electrical wires hanging from the pole. L.A. County Fire Department personnel extinguished the blaze, after which the driver was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The identity of the officer is being withheld pending notification of family and department members. “The identification of the deceased person will not be released until the family and department members of the decedent has been given proper notification,” Barclay stated. The Los Angeles Police Department had not issued a comment as of Monday afternoon.
In a separate and unrelated incident, another driver was arrested for driving under the influence after they drove through the active crash scene shortly after the initial collision. The investigation into the cause of the fatal crash is ongoing.
Investigation Details
Authorities have not yet released information regarding the circumstances that led to the crash. The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station is handling the investigation. It is important to note that regarding the separate DUI arrest, an individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Officials are asking anyone with information about the fatal collision to contact the station at 661-260-4000 or to provide anonymous tips through L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers.