A 33-year-old Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy was killed in a crash that also injured his passenger in Temple City early Thursday morning, officials said.
The one-vehicle collision happened around 2:20 a.m. in the area of Santa Anita Avenue and Freer Street, according to California Highway Patrol.
The off-duty deputy was driving a 1965 Cobra 427 roadster at a high rate of speed and was “unable to safely negotiate a curve in the roadway,” CHP officials said in a news release.
The Cobra roadster veered off the road and onto a center median, slamming into a street sign and a light pole, according to CHP.
The impact ejected the Sheriff’s Department deputy from his vehicle, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. He was later identified as 33-year-old Cameron Blaine Fish by the L.A. County coroner’s office.
The passenger, a 28-year-old woman, was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries to her head.
CHP said it is unknown if Fish and his passenger were wearing their seatbelts, or whether alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash.
The collision crushed the vehicle so badly, it left it almost unrecognizable on the left side.
Footage from the crash site shows the mangled vehicle partially stopped on a median near a tree and a light pole, with debris scattered across the roadway. Sky5 aerial video showed a truck towing a black vehicle with its hood completely wiped out.
A witness, Ervin Seniours, told a photographer at the scene that he heard acceleration, a crash and then the telephone pole fall.
“It was loud enough that we were doing work on the car and we were able to hear from another block,” Seniours said.
Seniours said he called 911 after seeing the crash and a “hysterical” woman who appeared to be trying to resuscitate the man.
Officials said the site of the collision will be shut down for a while as the investigation continues.