Chief Moore cites ‘serious concerns’ about LAPD officer who killed pedestrian while driving police cruiser

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore has “serious concerns” about how an officer was driving just before her patrol car struck and killed a pedestrian, the department announced Tuesday.

The LAPD unit that handles traffic-related crimes is investigating, and it will forward its findings to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to decide whether to bring charges, police said in a news release. Moore said the department has also started an internal affairs investigation.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the officer was not responding to an emergency when she struck the pedestrian, but was instead running an errand for a member of a youth sports team affiliated with the department. The sources said she was driving at high speed at the time of the collision. The LAPD has not yet released the name of the officer or the victim.

The collision happened around 5 p.m. on Friday, when an LAPD officer driving east on Century Boulevard hit a pedestrian who was crossing the street near the McKinley Avenue intersection, the department said. Driving with its emergency equipment activated, the marked patrol car hit the pedestrian outside the crosswalk as it approached the intersection, where the light was green, according to the LAPD. The officer driving the vehicle and another officer got out and started to give first aid to the pedestrian.

The department did not release any information about whether speed was a factor in the crash.

Paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department took the pedestrian to a hospital, but they died from their injuries, the LAPD said. The pedestrian was not carrying any form of identification, and the LAPD is working with the county medical examiner’s office to identify the person, according to authorities.

“While we are in the very preliminary stages of the investigation, I have very serious concerns regarding the officer’s driving leading up to the collision,” Moore said in a statement. “An Internal Affairs investigation has been initiated, and additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”

The driver of the police cruiser is part of the department’s community safety partnership bureau, which seeks to improve relationships between police and the communities they serve across the city.

Anyone with information about the fatal collision can contact the LAPD’s traffic group detectives at (213) 486-0690. During non-business hours and on weekends, people can call (877) LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS or go to www.lacrimestoppers.org.

Times staff writers Libor Jany and Richard Winton contributed to this report.