DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

AROUND THE COUNTRY LAS

AROUND THE COUNTRY LAS ANGELES, CA Driver who plowed his SUV into a group of LASD Recruits, was arrested and then released due to a lack of evidence, says he fell asleep. By Hunter Lee The Orange County Register LOS ANGELES, CA — A 22-yearold Diamond Bar driver was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of one or more peace officers for plowing into 75 cadets out for a training run in South Whittier on Wednesday morning, and then released a day later when Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated they didn’t have enough evidence to charge him. The Sheriff’s Department said Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez was arrested by deputies just after 3 p.m. the day of the collision and added in its Thursday statement that more charges could be added. Gutierrez, authorities had said, was behind the wheel of a SUV and on his way to work, suffering minor injuries in the crash. Then later on Thursday, citing the need for further investigation, authorities released Gutierrez from custody. “Due to the extreme complexity of the investigation, which includes ongoing interviews, video surveillance review, and additional evidence needed to be analyzed, homicide investigators have released Mr. Gutierrez from the Sheriff’s Department custody today at approximately 9:55 PM,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Authorities identified Gutierrez as the driver of an SUV that veered onto the wrong side of the road early Wednesday in the suburban Whittier area, where a sheriff’s academy facility is located. Seventy-five recruits for the sheriff’s department and other law enforcement agencies were on a routine run in formation through the area. Five of the recruits were critically injured and two remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon, according to the department. Sheriff Alex Villanueva told NewsNation earlier Thursday that investigators believe the crash was a “deliberate act” and that there was probable cause to make the arrest. But he said Gutierrez was going to be “provisionally” released “until we can have the case iron clad, iron proof, and submitted to the DA for filing consideration. Right now, we want to tie up all the loose ends on the case and then present it to the DA.” It will be up to the county district attorney to decide whether Gutierrez will be charged and for what offense. “The Sheriff’s Department would like to thank the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the California Highway Patrol, the incredible medical staffs who are caring for our injured personnel, the other agencies that assisted in this investigation, and the outpouring of love and support we have experienced from the community.” The entire class of 75 cadets, mostly Sheriff’s Department recruits but some in line to get hired by other Southern California police agencies, were jogging in four columns on Telegraph Road, heading toward Mills Avenue, just before 6:25 a.m. Two sheriff’s patrol cars were alongside to protect them from traffic as they ran in the street, the sheriff has said. The class went north on Mills, merging from four columns into two. The patrol cars let them pass and went to the rear. That’s when the SUV, going southbound on Mills at about 20 to 30 miles per hour, suddenly veered into the opposite lane and collided with the cadets. Some recruits said that the driver continued accelerating before smashing into a light pole and coming to a halt, a sheriff’s captain has said. In an interview with the LA Times, Gutierrez’s attorney Alexandra Kazarian, said Gutierrez was traveling in a Honda CR-V on Wednesday morning to his job as an electrical engineer for a solar panel company. his attorney. Gutierrez, who wakes for work at 5 a.m., had been up late the night before, she said. “He’s a good kid that fell asleep on his way to work early in the morning,” Kazarian said. Gutierrez comes from a law enforcement family, Kazarian said. His father is a retired corrections officer, and he has uncles in the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s Department. “He harbors absolutely no animosity toward law enforcement,” Kazarian said. She added that reports that Gutierrez was a disgruntled academy recruit are “completely incorrect.” He “never had any association with being a recruit,” she said. 24 The BLUES The BLUES 25