Results tagged “chp”

A 28-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway has been identified as one of the DUI-related high-collision areas in Los Angeles County. Between 2005 and 2007, 19 people died and 619 were injured in crashes involving a drunk driver along the corridor between North Hollywood and Westlake.

Never will we understand why people don't like or forget to wear seatbelts, but it happens all the time. Many like to complain, citing the usual government fundraiser line, but if you look a little closer, there are two facts to consider. Obviously one is the safety factor: seatbelts save lives. There are those who will call survival of the fittest in those cases, but many survive seatbelt-less crashes, ending up in the hospital. And that's where we have a big problem: who foots the bill for those drivers without drivers or health insurance?

A crash involving four vehicles prompted a SigAlert on the eastbound 118 Freeway during rush hour this morning. A witness told police that a driver of black honda was text messaging prior to hitting a bus, spinning out and hitting other vehicles. Another bus and a box truck were also involved in the crash, which was located before Reseda Boulevard.

Last year, 40 people died statewide on roadways patrolled by the California Highway Patrol during Labor Day weekend. This year the number plummeted to 12 with 9 of those victims found not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. “Wearing a seat belt needs to become a habit for drivers and passengers alike,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Buckle up every trip, every time. It may save your life or the life of someone you love.” (we actually feel naked when our seat belt is not on). Also, DUI arrests were down 11 percent this year with 1,417 people caught by officers statewide. Last year, there were 1,586 DUI-related arrests. “Making an arrest is far easier than having to make a notification to the family member of someone whose life was cut short by a drunk or drugged driver," said Farrow. The agency credits the decline to their Maximum Enforcement Period they instituted, which assigns every available officer to the roads.

It's the last holiday weekend of the summer and that means more drinking and driving than usual. Last year Labor Day, 40 people died on California freeways--half of those killed were not wearing a seat belt, according to the California Highway Patrol. That said, the agency will begin a Maximum Enforcement Period statewide at 6:01 p.m. through midnight on Monday, meaning every available officer will be on the road keeping a vigilant eye out for errant drivers, mainly for violators of the three major causes of highway deaths: speeding, drinking and driving and not wearing a seat belt.

A crash between two vehicles left an apparent transient dead this morning during rush hour in North Hollywood. Around 7:53 a.m., the vehicles traveling eastbound on the 134 freeway collided, leaving the freeway over the side where an encampment was set up behind the McDonalds at Riverside Drive and Lankershim Boulevard. "He just happened to be there at the wrong place at the wrong time," explained California Highway Patrol Officer Miguel Luevano over the phone.

Forget "Cash for Clunkers"--a 56-year-old man skipped the middlemen and gave his cash to commuters yesterday afternoon when he "tossed money from his car on Interstate 210 in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendora shortly before noon Sunday," according to Yahoo! News.

If you saw that car chase going up the 405 this morning, here's what happened, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers attempted to pull over a man driving northbound on the 405 freeway in the Carson area around 8:45 a.m. But the man fled, going up to speeds of 90 miles per hour (he was going opposite of rush hour traffic at times). He made his way to the San Fernando Valley, hooked a right onto the 118 Freeway before heading back south on the 5 Freeway, exiting at Roscoe Boulevard in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sun Valley. The chase ended around 9:40 a.m. in the driveway of a house on a side street in neighboring Arleta when police surrounded and arrested him. His name has not been released yet, nor the reason why officers initially wanted to pull him over.

Several lanes remain closed on the southbound 405 freeway as police search for burglary suspect who hid in a storm drain near the Roscoe on- and off-ramps. The suspects--one was arrested--were apparently trying steal copper wiring from a nearby warehouse when someone reported the burglary, according to the LAPD. The closure began around 3 a.m., snarling morning traffic on one of the busiest freeways in the world.

A fiery crash yesterday evening has caused the connector road between the eastbound Artesia (91) Freeway to the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway as CalTrans continues to investigate the deadly incident.

It just takes one "anonymous tipster" to make gossip go viral these days, which is precisely what happened yesterday when celeb scandal-mongers TMZ passed on a report that came from the California Highway Patrol's own website regarding a "possible fatality" at the home of rapper Snoop Dogg that read: "The word is 'Snoop Doggy Dogg has the dead body of his wife in his basement"--a story which grew wings and spread like an STD at a frat house in seconds flat. Snoop, nee Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, and his wife, Shante Taylor, have had their share of squabbles, but the rapper's manager has come forward to say that the story is "ridiculous." TMZ, classy lot that they are, added this parting thought to the item: "So this is either really funny ... or really, really, really messed up." Really? Recently, LAist chatted with Snoop about his own quirky sense of humor.

Authorities are investigating what led up to a California Highway Patrol officer fatally shooting her husband last night at their home in Compton. The unnamed CHP officer has not been arrested or charged as of yet, according to abc7.com, and "Sheriff's officials say it will be up to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office to charge the officer in her husband's death." The officer was reportedly off-duty when the incident occurred, and authorities believe the shooting came following a domestic dispute between she and her spouse, 31-year-old Marcus Lavar Lemons. Lemons "was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot once in the chest." Early reports indicate the officer may have acted in self-defense.

An unidentified man in his 20s was killed when he tried to run across the northbound 5 freeway, just above downtown Los Angeles. It happened around 4:30 a.m., shutting down lanes until around 6:30 a.m. as rush hour began, pushing back traffic for the morning.

If last week's deaths of three kids (one of them was at the wheel) in a police pursuit wasn't enough, five were involved in one last night that began in Norwalk. Shortly before midnight, police tried to pull over a red Chevy Corsica that was reported to be stolen when the 13 or 14-year-old driver sped off with four other passengers aged 12 to 14. About an hour later, California Highway Patrol performed the PIT maneuver causing the car to crash into the fence. No one was injured and the teens were all taken into custody.

No matter which team you're rooting for, if you're headed out tomorrow to celebrate the Super Bowl, don't get all stupid about it. "Law enforcement officers around Southern California will be on the lookout for drunk drivers on Super Bowl Sunday," reports abc7.com. That doesn't mean you can't party, it just means you should plan to party responsibly, or face the consequences; "The CHP and local law enforcement organizations will deploy extra DUI patrols," and they have no qualms about issuing citations and making arrests. Of course, landing your drunk ass in jail is a far better fate than what can happen, or what has happened in the past: "Last year on Super Bowl Sunday, 12 people were killed and 167 others were injured in alcohol-related traffic accidents statewide."

A 14-year-old driver and two passengers--aged 11 and 6--died last night after a car chase that ended in a Fontana front yard. Around 9 p.m., a CHP officer pulled over the Nissan Maxima. When he approached the car on foot, it fled. The chase hit speeds up to 90 mph and ran several red lights before careening out of control, rolling over a few times ejecting two of the boys from the car and killing them instantly. The 6-year-old who was wearing his seatbelt later died at the hospital.

California Highway Patrol has said that the two victims in this morning's crash on the 10 Freeway were a Culver City police officer and a 21-year-old male from Van Nuys, according to ABC7.

Two men were killed this morning in a collision that may have involved a wrong way driver on the eastbound 10 freeway. "At 5 a.m. we have reports of a wrong way driver, but we don't have confirmation if this is the vehicle involved or if [the wrong way driver] caused the accident [and left the scene]," Officer Jennifer Connolly told LAist.

The man whose body was found near the 405 Freeway on Friday has been identified as being that of Thomas Francis Leamy, a 59-year-old patient of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center who left against medical advice. Leamy reportedly walked out of the hospital "a few days ago when told he was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease," reports abc7.com. The man "still had an electrode from a heart monitor attached to his chest" when he was found in some bushes near Wilshire Boulevard and the 405 Freeway. Leamy's family had reported him missing. His body was found by a pedestrian, who contacted the California Highway Patrol, but later "was arrested for refusing to identify himself and being on the freeway illegally."

Yesterday morning at around 11:30, a pedestrian told the California Highway Patrol they had found a dead body off "the ramps at the southwest corner of the Wilshire Boulevard interchange, within sight of the Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles Medical Center," according to abc7.com. Initial reports "indicated that the man may have recently been released from a hospital," although there has been no confirmation of that as of yet. The man appears to be in his 60s. The case is being investigated by the Los Angeles County coroner's office and the CHP.

Traffic snarled in the San Gabriel Valley for at least 10 miles after a big rig tanker truck early this morning filpped over blocking all lanes of the eastbound 210 Freeway. At approximately 5:41 a.m., a call came in reporting the incident at Azusa Ave. which appears to be a solo crash with no injuries. The truck is carrying 50,000 pounds of liquid asphalt material and some of it has spilled out, said California Highway Patrol Office Francisco Villalobos over the phone. A small amount of diesel fuel also leaked.

The driver of a Smart Car pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer last night in North Hollywood fled after giving the officer his license and registration. The one and a half hour chase whipped through the Valley and eventually up to eastbound 210 Freeway in Sylmar when police pulled back and ultimately abandoned ship when they confirmed the driver's home address. No word if he went straight home to get arrested or not.

There's good news and bad news when it comes to driving-related incidents that happened over the holidays this past week. According to the Daily Breeze, "Six traffic deaths were reported over the holiday weekend in Los Angeles County and DUI arrests by California Highway Patrol officers were down from last year's total."

Good news, but not good enough. Compared to 100 arrests last year, LA County's California Highway Patrol office is reporting that only 30 drivers have been arrested for driving under the influence between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Friday this week. Statewide, there have been 167 arrests. The holiday period continues into this weekend with various sobriety checkpoints across the region. Tonight and tomorrow night, the Metro Red Line subway will operate until 3 a.m., so make use of it before the pilot program ends!

A rookie 29-year-old California Highway Patrol officer is reported to have died after being struck by a vehicle while directing traffic and laying out flares at the scene of a previous accident. The crash, reported at 4:20 a.m. happened on the 60 Freeway in Hacienda Heights when a vehicle struck one of the disabled vehicles that subsequently hit the officer. He was transported to a hospital where he later died this morning, leaving behind a pregnant wife and three children.

Drinking and driving is beyond stupid, and we all know that making phone calls while intoxicated can also lead to disastrous results. And of course, drivers who lead cops on chases are just foolishly delaying the inevitable. Well, one smart fella did all of the above last night on the freeways of Southern California, and added in a bonus police chase for good measure.

The LA Fire Department is reporting a pretty insane crash that happened at 3:07 p.m. on the 170 Freeway at Burbank Blvd. In his own words, spokesman Cecil Manresa: "A CHP vehicle assisting a stalled motorist was rear ended by a 4 door sedan and pushed into traffic lanes. It was subsequently struck by another vehicle. A total of 7 patients with 1 critical were treated at the scene. One patient was extricated and all 7 patients were transported to local hospitals" A SigAlert issued was lifted at 4:09 p.m.

The near 45-acre brush fire raging between the Getty Museum and Mount St. Mary's College has prompted the California Highway Patrol to close the 405 Freeway in both directions between Skirball Center Drive in the Sepulveda Pass and Sunset Blvd., according to CHP officials and updates via an online log. 405 north and southbound traffic is being diverted to the 10 Freeway and Valley Vista Rd. in Sherman Oaks, respectively.