KTLA

Off-duty L.A. police officer killed, SBSD deputy among those injured in crash involving suspected drunk driver

A deadly two-car collision in Northridge has claimed the lives of two people, including an off-duty LAPD officer, the department confirmed.

He was identified by LAPD officials as Officer Darrell Cunningham of the department’s West L.A. Division at a press conference late Saturday morning.


Preliminary reports indicate that the crash happened around 1:15 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Roscoe Boulevard and Lindley Avenue.

The off-duty LAPD officer was driving with an off-duty San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputy and another passenger in a white Infiniti on Lindley when he was hit by a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed.

That vehicle, driven by 20-year-old Brian David Oliveri, failed to stop at a red light while going over 100 miles per hour when it struck Cunningham’s vehicle, police said.

It is also believed that Oliveri was under the influence of alcohol when the collision occurred, LAPD officials said.

Oliveri’s vehicle then crashed into a nearby apartment which the resident tells KTLA the car’s tire nearly landed in her kitchen sink when it burst through her windows.

“I was getting out of the bathroom and it was shaking,” recalled Adriel Yadegar, a resident who lived near the crash site. “The whole building was shaking and after that, I just heard a loud boom, an explosion.”

Officer Cunningham and the passenger sitting in the right front seat of his vehicle were killed, police said. That passenger’s identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The off-duty SBSD deputy in Officer Cunningham’s car was hospitalized with severe injuries but is expected to survive, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said.

Oliveri remains hospitalized in critical condition and was unconscious as of 10:15 a.m. Saturday morning, LAPD Chief Moore confirmed. He will be booked for gross vehicular manslaughter when he is released from the hospital, pending additional charges.

The sole female passenger of Oliveri’s vehicle was able to exit the wreckage herself, authorities said. She suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive.

Officer Cunningham, who had worked for the department for just under five years is survived by his fiancée, two sons — ages six and three — his mother and two brothers.

LAPD Officer Darrell Cunningham was killed in a crash involving a drunk driver on Nov. 4, 2023. (Twitter/@LAPDHQ)

His most recent shift came just two nights ago.

All of the passengers in Officer Cunningham’s vehicle were “lifelong friends,” Chief Moore said.

Moore took to social media late Saturday morning to pay his respects to the late officer and his friend who fell victim to the “senseless violence of a DUI driver.”

A growing memorial could be seen Saturday night at the West L.A. precinct where colleagues left flowers, cards and candles for the fallen officer.

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley expressed her condolences on X, formerly Twitter, mourning the “utterly senseless loss” of Officer Cunningham and his friend and lamenting the severe injuries sustained by the off-duty deputy.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also posted their condolences to the LAPD and families of Officer Cunningham and the passenger on social media while providing an update on the injured off-duty deputy.

“The third occupant is currently receiving medical treatment,” SBSD said.

Part of Saturday’s press conference can be viewed in the video player below: