Authorities announced Friday that a Los Angeles County sheriff’s recruit died months after a wrong-way driver plowed his SUV into a group of police recruits.
Alejandro Martinez “fought for his life for the past eight months,” according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department statement.
According to the statement, Alejandro passed away surrounded by his family, friends, Sheriff Luna, and other department members who supported his family. Tragically, he was unable to fulfill his vocation of assisting others.
In November, around 75 recruits from Sheriff’s Academy Class 464 were running near the intersection of Mills Avenue and Telegraph Road in Whittier when an SUV veered into them, according to authorities. There were 25 students injured.
Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, 22, of nearby Diamond Bar, was identified as the SUV driver who sustained minor injuries.
He was initially arrested, but officials eventually released him because further investigation was required.
The 22-year-old’s counsel stated that he has no ill will toward law enforcement and that the incident was a tragic accident.
Martinez’s death prompted the sheriff’s office to declare that the recruit “will forever live in our hearts & never be forgotten.”
