According to local news and authorities, the man drove onto the wrong side of the road in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier, California, crashing into a group of police cadets who were out for a morning run. COMPLEX: A 22-year-old wrong-way driver who plowed into a group of police officers and a sheriff’s recruit injured two dozen yesterday has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. @foxla pic.twitter.com/AgORzsI6uG — Gigi Graciette (@GigiGraciette) November 17, 2022 Authorities said five of the recruits were seriously injured, four were moderately injured and 16 were slightly injured. The driver, Nicholas Gutierrez, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer. “It looked like a plane wreck, there were so many bodies scattered everywhere,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at a news conference Wednesday. The cadets were Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department recruits and consisted of 75 people who were out for a morning run around 6:30 a.m. while it was still dark. Nicholas Gutierrez, 22, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder of an officer. The cause of the crash is unknown, but the LAPD is continuing to investigate. Villanueva confirmed the driver passed a breathalyzer test (showing alcohol was not a factor). The California Highway Patrol continues to investigate whether the crash was intentional or the result of distracted or recreational drug driving.
