KTLA‘s Vivian Chow reports a 20-year-old motorist who is accused of driving under the influence and causing the death of an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer, a passenger, was charged with murder on Thursday.
In a statement, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said that Brian Olivarez is facing two counts of murder and related charges for injuring two other people in the November 4th incident.
“This tragic and senseless collision serves as an alarming testament to the grave dangers that plague our roadways,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said.
Investigators say that the fatal crash happened at approximately 1:15 a.m. at the intersection of Roscoe Boulevard and Lindley Avenue when the officer and a passenger in a white Infiniti were struck by a speeding black BMW traveling at a speed estimated to be more than 100 miles per hour.
Immediately after broadsiding the officer’s vehicle, Olivarez crashed into a nearby apartment building. An eyewitness inside one of the apartments said that a car’s tire almost struck her, came through the window, and landed in her kitchen sink.
The off-duty officer was declared dead at the scene, while his passenger, a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputy, was seriously injured. One passenger inside the BMW also died at the scene, while another female passenger was able to extricate herself from the wreckage.
Olivarez is facing two counts of murder, two felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs causing serious injury.
A judge issued an arrest warrant for Olivarez and set his bond at $4,025,000. If convicted of the charges against him, Olivarez faces life in prison.
