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A Student Publication of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA

SACMedia

A Student Publication of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA

SACMedia

Officer Drinks and Drives After Posting Not To, Pleads Not Guilty

If+only+he+had+followed+his+Instagram+post.+Graphic+Credit%3A+Joshua+Sanchez%2FSAC.Media.
If only he had followed his Instagram post. Graphic Credit: Joshua Sanchez/SAC.Media.

Edgar Verduzco, a 27-year-old Los Angeles Police Department officer pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter and murder charges following a drunk driving incident where he crashed in Whittier and three people were killed.

LAPD Officer Edgar Verduzco in a photo on his Instagram account on July 29, 2017.

He remains in custody following the deadly crash at 10:25 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2017. A 19-year-old teen, Oscar Davila, and his parents, Maribel and Mario Davila, were killed along the 605 freeway.

Verduzco was off duty at the time of the accident, and broke his nose in his 2016 Chevy Camaro. The Davila family’s Nissan went up in flames, and a third party with a 31-year-old woman was also injured.

A photo posted on Aug. 26, 2017 to Edgar Verduzco’s Instagram account.

Records show that around three hours before the deadly crash, Verduzco showed a 10-second video with a cartoon character along with the message #dontdrinkanddrive in an Instagram story.

His original bail was set at $100,000 while he was held at Men’s Central Jail. Following the incident, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck voiced his disapproval with Verduzco’s actions.

“I cannot tell you how angry and disappointed I am that a Los Angeles police officer would disregard the law and cause an accident with such awful, awful consequences,” Beck said regarding the situation.

While the incident happened in Whittier, Maribel and Mario are survived by three sons in Riverside, and a GoFundMe page was set up for the family.

The GoFundMe page was set up by Jenny Vazquez on Sept. 27, 2017, and it raised $36,178 of a $35,000 goal in eight months with 707 backers.

On April 20, charges were filed and he was arraigned May 16. If Verudzco is convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.

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About the Contributor
Joshua Sanchez is the former Editor in Chief and News Editor of SAC.Media. He was previously the managing editor of LAHS' student newspaper, The Conqueror. A portfolio of his reporting work can be found at jdjoshsan.wordpress.com.

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