LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California man who authorities say killed a Los Angeles police officer by intentionally ramming his SUV into a patrol car in order to help his friend escape a high-speed chase was convicted Monday of assault and fleeing the scene of a crash.
Mynor Varela, 23, also faces murder and vehicular manslaughter in connection with the May 2014 crash that claimed the life of Los Angeles officer Roberto Sanchez, but jurors continued to deliberate on those charges Monday afternoon, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Varela is accused of intentionally broadsiding a police cruiser on May 3, 2014, in order to help his friend whose car was being pursued by police. Sanchez, a six-year veteran officer, died at the hospital. His partner, Richard Medina, suffered a broken jaw and other injuries.
Investigators said the officers had been pursuing a speeding Chevrolet Camaro when the car made a U-turn and the officers followed immediately behind. Varela, behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Tahoe, then slammed into the patrol car, police said.
After the crash, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Varela was friends with the driver of the Camaro and had acted with “willful and wanton disregard” when he crashed into the cruiser during the early-morning pursuit. Both Varela and his brother, who was a passenger in the SUV, ran from the scene, investigators said.
Varela’s attorney, Regina Filippone, has argued that her client didn’t intentionally crash into the police cruiser and said the crash was an unavoidable accident.
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