Former LAPD officer sentenced to 15 years for DUI crash that killed family of 3

A former Los Angeles police officer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for a 2017 drunk driving crash that killed a mother, father, and their 19-year-old son on the 605 Freeway, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Friday.

In April, Edgar Verduzco, 34, of Santa Ana, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one count of driving under the influence causing injury, and one count of driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent causing injury.

Verduzco was off-duty and speeding at 150 mph when he crashed into two vehicles on Sept. 26, 2017. One vehicle hit the center divider and caught fire, killing Maribel Davila, Mario Davila, and their son, Oscar Davila, a 19-year-old UC Riverside student. The second vehicle’s driver, a mother with a baby in a car seat, suffered minor injuries.

Shortly before the crash, a video apparently filmed at a bar posted by Verduzco on Instagram with the hashtag #dontdrinkanddrive.

“I cannot tell you how angry and disappointed I am that a Los Angeles police officer would disregard the law and cause an accident with such awful, awful consequences,” then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said at the time of his arrest.

Verduzco was initially released from jail due to “insufficient grounds to file charges,” but he was arrested and formally charged months later.

On Friday, a Los Angeles County judge handed down two 15-year sentences that will run concurrently, alongside a 3-year sentence that will also run concurrently. Those sentences carry a potential punishment of life in prison.