CHP Officer Miguel Cano was on obligation within the wee hours of Wednesday morning. He and his companion had been en route from an arrest, taking a DUI suspect to the West L.A. CHP Workplace, which was a number of blocks away.
However Cano didn’t make it.
Moments after telling his companion that he didn’t really feel nicely, he misplaced management of his patrol cruiser and smashed right into a tree in Culver Metropolis. He was killed. His companion and the suspect they had been transporting had been injured.
“We’re devastated by the lack of Officer Cano, who gave his life whereas serving the individuals of California,” mentioned California Freeway Patrol Commissioner Sean Duryee in a press release. “His dedication, braveness and dedication to public security won’t ever be forgotten. We stand together with his household and our CHP household throughout this extremely troublesome time.”
It was not instantly clear what induced the crash and what medical emergency Cano might have skilled. Duryee mentioned the officer didn’t have any recognized well being points.
Cano, a 34-year-old from Moreno Valley, had been driving south on Bristol Parkway, north of Inexperienced Valley Circle at 12:28 a.m. Wednesday, alongside his companion, who was not instantly recognized. That they had taken right into a custody an individual allegedly in possession of a firearm, doable cocaine and drug paraphernalia. They feared the suspect could possibly be overdosing.
Cano administered Narcan as a precaution. Then the companions had been headed again to the workplace when Cano mentioned he didn’t really feel nicely, Duryee mentioned.
Their automobile went off the roadway and struck a tree. Cano was rushed to UCLA Medical Middle, the place he was pronounced lifeless round 1:40 a.m.
On Wednesday morning, a solemn cadre of Cano’s fellow officers took half in a procession because the physique was transported to the medical expert’s workplace.
Cano’s companion sustained minor accidents and was handled on the scene, CHP mentioned. The particular person in custody was transported to Cedars-Sinai in Marina Del Rey by the Culver Metropolis Fireplace Division. Duryee mentioned their accidents weren’t extreme.
The division’s accident investigation staff is main an investigation into the incident, CHP mentioned. However investigators have already dominated out a doable publicity to medicine.
“We don’t assume this was an publicity to medicine,” Duryee mentioned. “The opposite officer and the topic didn’t expertise any indicators or signs associated to that.”
Cano, who graduated from the CHP Academy in November 2023, is survived by his spouse and fogeys.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom mentioned in a press release that Cano’s “passing is a heartbreaking loss for the state and the California Freeway Patrol.” The governor famous that this was the primary line-of-duty dying for the CHP since 2020, and that flags on the State Capitol can be flown at half-staff.
