Multi-vehicle crash in Hollywood involving officer leaves several injured, one dead

A multi-vehicle crash in Hollwood on Monday involving an LAPD cruiser left several people injured and a pedestrian dead.

The incident occurred at around 3:50 p.m. near the intersection of N. Gower Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. 

Video posted on the Citizen app appeared to show paramedics pulling the victim from underneath the police cruiser and then wheeling him to the ambulance. He later died at the hospital.

The Los Angeles Police Department said the cruiser with two officers was going north on Gower Street when it was T-boned by a car going west on Santa Monica Boulevard.

“That caused the police vehicle to spin and strike a pedestrian who was in this north crosswalk,” Kelly Muniz, commanding officer with the LAPD, said.

Witnesses at the scene said the man was pinned under the police cruiser where shoes and pieces of a guitar could be seen on the roadway.

“I just got a phone call that my uncle was involved in a crash, collision right down the road,” Paul Stiegelmar said. 

Stiegelmar said his aunt and uncle were taking a rideshare to work when the crash happened. 

They and the others in the cars involved were not seriously injured.

Santa Monica and Gower were shut down for several hours as investigators tried to determine what caused the crash.

"They will be conducting a whole schematic and go through the whole light sequencing," Muniz said. "They will look at cameras nearby, they will look at the traffic cameras and we also have digital in car video."

The airbags on the LAPD cruiser did deploy and the two officers inside walked away from the crash.

“Two officers were in the vehicle and they did not sustain any injuries however anytime we injure a citizen it's always traumatic,” Muniz said.