Officer Arrested on Suspicion of DUI in Crash
Posted on March 24, 2014 Written By: iadminlaw
An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested Friday morning after the car he was driving crashed. After the accident he was booked on suspicion of DUI.
The car crashed off the westbound Pomona Freeway and ended up in a McDonald’s drive-thru in Diamond Bar, according to police authorities. The incident happened around 1 a.m. The car blocked the drive-thru lanes of the restaurant, according to a witness. Diamond Bar is located 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
The driver of the car was identified as Officer Jonathan Chel, of Fullerton. He was transported to a local hospital in stable condition. He was later booked into custody on suspicion of DUI.
Candice Weidman said she was shocked about the news concerning officer Chel, who she described as a quiet and respectful neighbor. According to Weidman, she said Chel could go out of his way to have his friends stay the night to sober up after parties.
“He was very cognizant of that and so were his friends because of the drinking-and-driving issue,” Weidman said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed Friday morning that the 29-year-old Chel is an LAPD officer.
“I’m the first one to respond and all I hear is one person yelling like, ‘Oh, there’s somebody in there. Do you have anything to break the window?'” McDonald’s employee Aaron Morales said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles. “I had keys in my hand. I sat there for about two minutes just trying to break the window, anything I could, wrap my hand up and just started banging on it.”
An employee at a nearby gas station had a tire iron that he was about to use to break the window right before police arrived and assisted the driver.
If you need a car accident lawyer call The Accident Attorneys Group at 877-857-7720.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
