Wrong-way driver injures 25 Los Angeles deputy trainees, California officials say

Update: Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, 22, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on peace officers, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The original story is below:

An SUV going the wrong way struck 25 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department trainees on a run, leaving five critically injured, California news reports say.

The collision took place at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Whittier near a sheriff’s training facility, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

At least one injured deputy is on a ventilator, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at a news briefing, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We have had some loss of limb,” he added.

About 75 deputy recruits were on a training run when they were hit by the SUV, which also crashed into a power pole, news outlets reported. Along with deputies, the class also included recruits from the Bell, Glendale, Pasadena, El Segundo and UCLA police departments, KTLA reported.

“It looked like an airplane wreck,” Villanueva told the Los Angeles Times. “There was so many bodies scattered everywhere in different states of injury that it was pretty traumatic for all individuals involved.”

The 22-year-old driver of the SUV, which was going the wrong way, also was injured, firefighters told KABC.

“It looks like it’s an accident, a horrific accident,” Villanueva told KABC. He said the driver passed a breathalyzer test and is cooperating with investigators

A neighbor told KTTV that recruits often jog on the street in brightly colored safety vests.

“It is hard to see because these young people are getting ready to go put themselves in the line of danger in their career, and who knows that while you’re training to do that, you’ve put yourself in harm’s way,” Capt. Sheila Kelliher of the Los Angeles County Fire Department told KTLA.

Whittier is a city of 87,000 people about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Investigators ask that anyone with information call 213-229-1850.

This story was originally published November 16, 2022 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Wrong-way driver injures 25 Los Angeles deputy trainees, California officials say."