Deputies in crash that killed boys to be fired
Investigation: Driver failed to turn on sirens
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department has moved to fire two deputies involved in a wreck that killed two young boys and injured several other people when their patrol car crashed into a group of pedestrians in 2017, according to two law enforcement sources who were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
The Boyle Heights wreck sparked at least four lawsuits and more than $23 million in settlements, though the district attorney’s office ultimately decided not to prosecute the driver. Investigators found that the driver, Deputy Carrie Esmeralda Robles-placencia, failed to turn on her siren when she crossed a busy intersection against a red light, hitting another vehicle and careening onto the sidewalk where a mother was walking her two sons home from school.
A trainee at the time, Robles-placencia went on to become part of former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s inner circle and was later relieved of duty amid a gun permitting scandal that the FBI began investigating earlier this year.
Vincent Moran, the training officer supervising Robles-placencia from the passenger seat was a deputy at the time of the crash, though payroll records show that he was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2022, after the county already paid out several million in legal settlements in connection with the deadly incident.
‘An absolute tragedy’
An attorney representing both of the deputies declined to comment. Without naming any of the employees involved, the Sheriff ’s Department sent a written statement about the case early Friday.
“This was an absolute tragedy that had a profound impact on the victims and their families,” the statement said. “The Department has implemented corrective measures and strengthened policies to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Sworn personnel are afforded certain employment rights and procedures, which limit the department from commenting until the process has been completed.”
Disciplinary actions are not considered final until employees have exhausted their internal appeals, a process that includes a hearing where the deputy can respond to the allegations against them.
Just after 7 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2017, Moran and Robles-placencia were driving in a patrol cruiser near the border of East Los Angeles when a call came in about shots fired less than 2 miles away. Heading southbo on Indiana Street, Robles-placencia sped up to 60 mph, then slowed as she reached the intersection at Whittier Boulevard, according to investigators.
Though Robles-placencia turned on the cruiser’s emergency lights, investigators found she did not activate the sirens before proceeding into the intersection and hitting a Honda Accord, which in turn crashed into a Honda Odyssey van stopped at the light.
The deputies’ cruiser jumped the curb, careened off a nearby bank building and hit 7-year-old Jose
Luis Hernandez and his 9-year-old brother, Marcos. Both children died from their injuries and their mother, Maria Veronica Solis Munoz, suffered a crushed pelvis and several broken bones. The cruiser also grazed a fourth pedestrian, hit a fifth and dislodged a large cement trash can that hit a sixth person.
The deputies’ vehicle was traveling only about 14 mph when the collision happened, but the force of the crash and the fact that Robles-placencia may have accidentally stepped on the gas after her vehicle was struck caused it to speed up, investigators found.