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LAPD officer killed on same Beverly Hills street as officer 2 months ago (updated)
A fatal crash involving a cement truck occurred on Loma Vista Drive, where two previous crashes occurred, on Friday.
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Update 6:25 p.m.
It's "with a very heavy heart I talk to you about this," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a televised news conference Friday about the crash that killed an off-duty 25-year veteran officer in Beverly Hills.
The officer has not been publicly identified yet as family is still being notified.
He will be "sorely missed by his friends. ... This is a tough business and a tough life. We have to deal with tragedy," Beck said.
Beck said physical evidence shows the cement truck was traveling downhill when it collided with the officer's pickup truck.
Beverly Hills police Sgt. Max Subin told KPCC that it is unclear if the officer was parked or driving when he was hit and it is unknown if speed was a factor.
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The driver has been taken to the hospital in serious condition.
"What I believe is these are heavy loads, and when they come down this hill they lose control because the brakes don't hold," Beverly Hills Police Chief David Snowden said at the conference.
Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
Subin said the city has teamed up with the California Highway Patrol to increase the number of weight inspections for heavy-hauling commercial vehicles going through the Trousdale area.
The hilly neighborhood is dense with construction of new homes on small, narrow streets.
The city council has just placed a 30-day moratorium on all construction vehicles on Loma Vista Drive and is putting a three ton limit on vehicles.
In a Twitter message from the LAPD Topanga Division, officers there tweeted, “At at loss for words. Our hearts break even more. Sending our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to our fallen brother’s family.”
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-- KPCC's Erika Aguilar and Nuran Alteir
Update 5:40 p.m.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti released the following statement about the officer killed in Friday's collision:
The city is still reeling from the recent death of three on-duty LAPD officers, and my heart aches at the death today of yet another of our officers. Amy's and my thoughts are with his family and everyone in the Los Angeles Police Department. This is a difficult time for our men and women in blue, and the whole city joins them in mourning the loss of these heroes.
An off-duty LAPD police officer was killed in a crash involving a cement truck Friday afternoon on the same Beverly Hills street where LAPD officer Nicholas Lee died weeks ago, and another crash also occurred, the LAPD confirmed.
LAPD told KPCC the officer killed was a "veteran detective."
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-- KPCC's Erika Aguilar
Update 3:50 p.m.
Loma Vista Drive between Doheny Road and Drury Lane in Beverly Hills has been shut down indefinitely following Friday's fatal accident, the City of Beverly Hills said in a statement.
The City also addressed the occurrence of three accidents — another fatal — on the same stretch of road in recent months:
The City of Beverly Hills is aware of the concerns from the community regarding commercial vehicles traveling along Loma Vista Drive and surrounding streets. This is a critical public safety issue which the Beverly Hills Police Department and other City departments are aggressively working together to mitigate. The police department has significantly stepped up traffic enforcement and commercial vehicle enforcement efforts in the Trousdale area since the beginning of the year. They have also deployed two speed radar trailers on Loma Vista.
3:06 p.m.
Authorities responded Friday afternoon to a fatal crash on a Beverly Hills street where an LAPD officer previously died and another crash occurred, NBCLA reported.
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The crash occurred about 2 p.m. in the 1000 block of Loma Vista Drive, according to Katherine Main of the Los Angeles Fire Department, which was assisting in the response, KTLA reported.
A person in a car that was hit by a cement truck was killed and the cement truck driver was hospitalized, Beverly Hills Police Department Sgt. Max Subin told KTLA.
A cement truck overturned on the same street May 2, injuring the driver.
RELATED: Cement truck overturns, crashes into parked cars in Beverly Hills
Veteran LAPD officer Nicholas Lee was killed nearly two months ago on the same street after his patrol car collided with an out-of control dump truck.
RELATED: Update: Fallen LAPD Officer Nicholas Lee remembered
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