LAPD off-duty officer dead following Northridge 2-vehicle crash

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer died early Saturday morning after his car was struck in a Northridge intersection by a speeding driver who ran a red light. 

Later in the morning, LAPD Chief Michel Moore spoke outside the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner facility in Boyle Heights to announce the death of Officer Darrell Cunningham.

One other person, an unidentified female passenger in Cunningham's white Infiniti, was also killed in the collision, while the back-seat passenger, an off-duty San Bernardino deputy sheriff, was hospitalized with injuries. Chief Moore said all there were lifelong friends.

Los Angeles firefighters responded to the crash site at the Lindley Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard intersection around 1:20 a.m., where they found a sheared fire hydrant with a black BMW lodged against an apartment building and the mangled Infiniti on the street.

Wreckage littered the accident site, as fire crews worked amid spouting water to free three people trapped inside the vehicles, including the 20-year-old suspect driver.

Chief Moore said based on the preliminary investigation, Cunnigham's vehicle was struck in the intersection by the black BMW which was driving well over the speed limit, around 100 mph. as it ran a red light. 

Moore said the driver "appears to have been under the influence of alcohol."

The female passenger in the suspect car was able to get out on her own. All others were trapped by the force and damage of the collision.

Paramedics pronounced Cunningham and his female passenger dead at the scene. All three survivors of the accident are being treated at the hospital for injuries. The suspect driver is unconscious and in critical condition according to Chief Moore. The San Bernardino off-duty deputy suffered a broken hip and other injuries. The female passenger who exited Oliveri's car is said to have serious injuries but is expected to survive.

Officer Cunningham is survived by his fiancé, his 6- and 3-year-old boys, his mother, and two other brothers.

Chief Moore said the 20-year-old driver will be booked for gross vehicular manslaughter and additional charges as further evidence is gathered. 

"The Los Angeles Police Department, we're grieving in his loss as well as the fellow occupant of this vehicle. In talking with those on scene, these were all individuals who were known to each other as lifelong friends," Chief Moore said. 

This is a developing story.