Authorities allege that 24-year-old Angelo Rodriguez was driving his patrol vehicle at speeds exceeding 130 miles per hour on the southbound 605 Freeway on July 20 when he struck a Nissan Versa near the Rosecrans Avenue exit. Investigators say Rodriguez was not responding to an emergency call at the time of the collision.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the impact disabled the Nissan and left it stranded on the freeway. Prosecutors allege Rodriguez failed to properly secure the scene after the crash and instead moved his damaged patrol vehicle to the shoulder without activating emergency lights or assisting the people inside the other car.

A short time later, a second vehicle traveling at more than 100 miles per hour slammed into the disabled Nissan, triggering a fiery explosion. The driver of that vehicle, identified as Iris Salmeron, is also facing murder charges. Prosecutors say Salmeron had been drinking earlier that evening and was allegedly driving under the influence at the time of the crash.

The victims — Julie Hamori, 23, Armand Del Campo, 24, Jordan Partridge and Samantha Skocilik — died at the scene.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the tragedy could have been avoided.

“This horrific loss of life might never have occurred if the officer had not been driving at extremely dangerous speeds without justification,” Hochman said in a statement.

Investigators allege Salmeron had been drinking at both a restaurant and a friend’s home earlier in the night. Prosecutors say she also sent a text message indicating plans to become heavily intoxicated before getting behind the wheel.

Rodriguez has since been dismissed from the California Highway Patrol. As of Monday morning, court documents had not yet been officially filed, but both Rodriguez and Salmeron were expected to appear for arraignment at the Bellflower Courthouse.

Attorneys representing the victims’ families say the group had been returning home from a concert when the initial crash occurred. According to civil attorney Darren Aitken, some of the victims were able to contact family members after the first collision and were still alive before the second crash caused the fatal fire.

One of the victims, Hamori, was engaged to Del Campo, according to family representatives.

Legal proceedings in both the criminal case and a related civil lawsuit are expected to move forward in the coming months as investigators continue to review the circumstances surrounding the deadly chain-reaction crash.

The post CHP Officer Charged With Murder In Crash That Killed Four appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

LOS ANGELES, CA — The leader of a Southern California-based drug ring that shipped kilos of cocaine to Alaska on commercial flights and through the mail has pleaded guilty to a federal narcotics charge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Raul Cisneros Jr., 45, of Compton, pleaded guilty on May 9 to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He’s the eighth person to be convicted in the case, according to federal prosecutors.

Cisneros managed the operations of a drug trafficking organization from at least July 2014 to August 2016 that sold cocaine and methamphetamine, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement stopped Cisneros in his car in October 2015 while he was en route to an accomplice’s house to pick up money. Inside his car, Cisneros had over 22 lbs. of cocaine packaged in five bundles, which he intended to sell to customers, as well as $5,003 in cash, prosecutors said.

After obtaining a search warrant for Cisneros’ home, law enforcement seized over 66 lbs. of cocaine, 167.7 grams of crack cocaine and over 1 lbs. of methamphetamine from his kitchen cabinets, prosecutors said.

Investigators also found four guns, 72 rounds of ammunition, hundreds of used green cellophane wrappers and a money counter. Inside the truck of Cisneros’ Honda Accord, agents found 15.5 lbs. of cocaine wrapped in seven packages of green cellophane, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Agents also recovered $568,357 in cash proceeds from drug deals, prosecutors said.

Cisneros, who has been in federal custody since October 2020, is due back in court for sentencing Aug. 8. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The post SoCal Cocaine Kingpin Faces Potential Life Sentence After Guilty Plea: DOJ appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.