Driver accused of plowing into 25 California deputy recruits says he fell asleep
A 22-year-old man accused of plowing into a class of Los Angeles deputy recruits on a training run says he fell asleep behind the wheel.
“I didn’t intentionally do it,” Nicholas Gutierrez of Diamond Bar told KNBC. “I wish it never happened. I feel bad it happened.”
A Honda CR-V driven by Gutierrez hit and injured 25 deputy recruits in Whittier on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in a wrong-way crash, McClatchy News reported. Five were initially listed in critical condition.
Wrong-way driver injures 25 Los Angeles deputy trainees, California officials say
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported Sunday, Nov. 20, that four recruits remain in critical condition, with one in “grave condition.”
Gutierrez, who was arrested after the crash, was released Thursday, Nov. 17, after detectives said they needed more time to investigate before turning the case over to prosecutors to review formal charges, the Los Angeles Times reported.
His attorney, Alexandra Kazarian, disputed reports by Sheriff Alex Villanueva that Gutierrez may have intentionally hit the deputy recruits, who were part of a class of 80 trainees on a run.
“He’s a good kid that fell asleep on his way to work early in the morning,” Kazarian told KABC. She said he has “no animosity toward law enforcement.”
Gutierrez’s father is a retired corrections officer and he has other family members who work in law enforcement, Kazanian said, according to KABC. He works as a solar panel installer.
He told KNBC he doesn’t remember what happened before the crash but that he “woke up to the sound” of recruits pounding on his SUV’s windows afterward.
“They dragged me out,” Gutierrez told the station. “They tried to say that I did it intentionally, which I didn’t. I kept on telling them I didn’t.”
Gutierrez’s SUV hit a light pole after plowing through deputy recruits, McClatchy News reported. He passed a Breathalyzer test after the crash, Villanueva said.
Most of those injured are Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recruits but the class also includes some recruits from area police departments.
The recruit in grave condition suffered brain swelling, compound femur fractures, a collapsed lung and damage to multiple organs, the Los Angeles Times reported. Villanueva said he swore the trainee in as a full deputy on Monday, Nov. 21.
“His life ambition is to be a deputy sheriff,” Villanueva told the publication.
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