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LAPD Officer Killed After Patrol Car Collides With Dump Truck
An LAPD officer was killed and another critically injured this morning in a collision involving their police cruiser and a dump truck in Beverly Hills.
The crash happened at 8 a.m. this morning at the Loma Vista Drive/Robert Lane intersection, KTLA reports. Aerial scenes show the police car completely smashed and the big rig in several pieces resting on its side, according to CBS.
A female officer who was in the car was transported to Ceders-Sinai Medical Center in critical condition. The condition of the driver is unknown. Officers have been at the hospital awaiting word on her condition, NBC says.
Both of the officers were based out of the Hollywood station, City News Service reports.
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A Beverly Hills Police spokesman told NBC 4 that Loma Vista Drive is currently closed while the investigation continues.
UPDATE 11 A.M.: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the officer killed was a veteran training officer. The injured officer is a probationary officer in training. Chief Charlie Beck called the officer "well-regarded" and said that he was well-liked among his colleagues at the Hollywood Division.
During a press conference, Mayor Garcetti said that the female officer was only on the job for three months, but confirmed that she will survive her injuries.
The officers were responding to an "unknown trouble call" and were traveling through Beverly Hills when the accident happened, Beck said. The accident seems to have stemmed from a brake failure from the truck.
UPDATE 5 P.M.: The officer who was killed in today's accident has ben identified as 40-year-old Nicolas Choung Lee, City News Service reports. Meanwhile, ABC is reporting that the street where the accident happened prohibits vehicles larger than three tons, which begs the question why the truck was there in the first place.
Meanwhile, this is what the squad car looks like now, which makes it all the more incredible that the other officer survived:
LAPD patrol car 'unrecognizable' after fatal crash with truck http://t.co/6JUlNV12sw pic.twitter.com/uvT0VZQtRU
— L.A. Times: L.A. Now (@LANow) March 7, 2014
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UPDATE 3/9: The female officer injured in the accident was released from the hospital Saturday night, City News Service reports. Her name was not made public.
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