Ex-LAPD officer pleads guilty in 2017 triple-fatal drunken driving crash

A former LAPD officer pleaded guilty to three counts of murder for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing a crash that killed three people in September 2017, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday, April 11.

Edgar Verduzco, 34, an off-duty LAPD officer at the time, was driving 150 miles per hour and under the influence of alcohol when he collided with two cars on the 605 freeway, according to the district attorney’s office. He was driving a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro in the carpool lane of the southbound 605 freeway when he rear ended the cars around 10:15 p.m. on Sept. 26, 2017.

Nineteen-year-old Oscar Davila and his parents, Maribel and Mario Davila, were killed when they were unable to escape their car, which had burst into flames after colliding with a center divider when Verduzco rear-ended them. Oscar Davila was a student at UC Riverside. The Davilas had four other children.

The second car that was hit, driven by a mother who had a baby in a car seat, was also rear ended by Verduzco. The driver of the car, a Scion, sustained minor injuries.

Verduzco, who is a Santa Ana resident, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and one count of driving with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury. He is expected to be sentenced on July 11 and faces three concurrent terms of 15 years to life for the murder charges, as well as a concurrent term of three years for DUI causing injury.

Shortly after the crash, an LAPD spokesperson confirmed that Verduzco had worked at the front desk of the Central Division in downtown Los Angeles for two years.

Staff reporter Ruby Gonzales contributed to this report.