LF: L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy "disciplined" in fatal collision with cyclist in Calabasas

Title: L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy "disciplined" in fatal collision with cyclist in Calabasas
Source: Pasadena Star-News
URL Source: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/gov ... sion-with-cyclist-in-calabasas
Published: Apr 24, 2015
Author: Brenda Gazzar
Post Date: 2015-05-08 09:40:30 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1214
Comments: 1

This 2014 file photo shows the heads up technology the California Highway Patrol uses
to help officers keep their eyes on the road at all times. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/File)

This undated photo shows Milton Olin Jr., an entertainment attorney and former Napster executive who was killed Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013 after his bicycle was struck by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's patrol car.

Following an internal probe, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has imposed unspecified discipline on a veteran deputy who fatally struck a cyclist with his patrol car in Calabasas 15 months ago as he was typing on his in-car computer, officials said.

Deputy Andrew Wood hit and killed prominent entertainment attorney Milton Olin Jr. in the bicycle lane on Mulholland Highway on Dec. 8, 2013. Wood was returning from a fire call at Calabasas High School and was responding to a message from another deputy on his mobile digital computer at the time, authorities said.

Wood is still employed as a sheriff’s deputy, though he transferred from patrol to the courts division shortly after the incident, having made the request about a year earlier.

“I can’t get into the specifics about the administrative action taken because it’s a personnel matter,” department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said. “Administrative action was taken, and he’s exercising his civil service rights ... through the (county’s) Civil Service Commission.”

The commission serves as the administrative appellate body for employees “who have received major disciplinary actions, such as discharges, reductions, suspensions in excess of five days,” according to the commission’s website.

The discipline, which was imposed at the end of March, arose out of a sheriff’s internal affairs investigation that examined whether the 17-year veteran violated department policies in the collision. The internal probe, which has been described as a routine procedure following criminal investigations, was launched after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against the deputy in August.

Officials with the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which represents more than 7,000 deputies and district attorney investigators working in the county, had no comment Thursday.

The decision on Wood’s discipline came just weeks after the department — the largest sheriff’s agency in the nation — implemented a new policy significantly curbing the use of mobile digital computers in patrol cars.

That policy, which was the department’s first explicit restrictions on such devices, now prohibits the use of mobile digital computers while driving unless the communication is urgent or necessary for officer safety or unless it is to hit one button to send a status update such as “en route” or “acknowledge.” Deputies are also required to rely on their radio as the primary mode of communication while driving, the policy states.

Previously, only general directives were issued on safe driving, including the need to employ defensive driving techniques to prevent a collision and avoid operating vehicles “in an unsafe or negligent manner.”

Distracted drivers of police cars, firetrucks and ambulances — who often spend a disproportionate amount of their time on the road — were to blame in collisions that killed Olin in 2013 and two Southland residents in 2012, according to data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System that is run by the California Highway Patrol.

The number of crashes involving distracted emergency vehicle drivers who were at fault on public roads increased by more than 120 percent between 2003 and 2013, coinciding with a meteoric rise in technology, according to the data. The use of electronic equipment such as in-car computers was cited as a factor in at least 48 such collisions in 2013, up from some 26 cases in 2012.

Deputies are allowed to contest any discipline decisions with their division chief and, if they are not satisfied, request a hearing before the Civil Service Commission, said Sgt. Jospeh Jakl of the sheriff’s Risk Management Bureau.

“I can’t speculate on what he should get — it’s just very unfortunate,” Jakl said of Wood. “He will always have that in his mind that he caused the death of someone who was just riding their bike. I think that’s bad enough, and he has to live with that burden.”

Olin’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county, the Sheriff’s Department and the deputy in July. The case is in the discovery phase, and a trial date has been tentatively set for Jan. 19, said attorney Alan Van Gelder, who is representing Olin’s family.

The DA’s office declined to press charges against Wood in August, noting state law does not prohibit officers who are driving from using an electronic wireless communications device in the performance of their duties.

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Of course, if a non-cop had done this he or she would have been charged with manslaughter at the very least.

A "personnel" matter? Where is the justice for the family of the man killed by this murdering badged prick?

More proof that cops are above the law.

Sounds to me like Olin's accident was no accident afterall. It appears this was a planned attack on him during his litigation period. They would kill him 42 days before Olin was set to testify at trial.