Sergeants Nightmare

[Chippysgt]

Glad this was not CHP. I hope the link works


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-body17dec17,1,2210882.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

[CHPwannaBE]

Glad this was not CHP. I hope the link works


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-body17dec17,1,2210882.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true


Doesn't work w/o registration Chippysgt. If possible try to cut and paste article.

[Chippysgt]

Body is found in L.A. tow yard a day after car accident

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2007-12/34316246.jpgEmail Picture (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-body17dec17_jt7nrbnc,0,3164489,email.photo?coll=la-home-center)
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
A dead body was found in a wrecked car at Howard Sommers Towing in Canoga Park Sunday, December 16, 2007.
Authorities want to know how the woman was overlooked when the driver, her son, was removed at crash scene.
By Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 17, 2007
The body of an elderly woman was discovered Sunday in the front passenger side of a crumpled car in a San Fernando Valley towing company's yard -- a day after paramedics had removed her son from the same vehicle after a crash, authorities said.

The woman, whose identity was not released, had apparently been left in the car at the accident scene in Tarzana even as her son was taken to a hospital, police said.

Investigators began looking for her after family members reported that two relatives -- not one -- were missing, Officer Mike Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department said.

"We conducted a follow-up to the tow yard, and we discovered the woman inside the vehicle," Lopez said. "She was dead."

LAPD detectives and officials on Sunday afternoon and evening swarmed the vehicle lot at Howard Sommers Towing Inc., an official police impound and tow yard in Canoga Park, trying to determine how city paramedics and traffic officers had failed to spot the woman in the damaged vehicle.

The slightly built woman had been concealed beneath an air bag that had deployed during the accident, police said. The vehicle was badly banged-up after crashing into a building.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office dispatched investigators late Sunday to examine and remove the body.

"There are a lot of questions and we don't have all of the answers," Lopez said, adding that authorities are "conducting an investigation surrounding this unfortunate incident."

The incident began about 10 a.m. Saturday when the vehicle driven by the woman's son hit a parked car in a bank parking lot and then crashed into the building at 19255 W. Ventura Blvd.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics removed the driver from the vehicle and took him to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, said spokesman Brian Humphrey. He did not release the driver's name, age or medical condition.

The car was then towed about seven miles to the impound yard, where it sat overnight. The city's Department of Building and Safety, meanwhile, was called in to check for structural damage at the bank after the car was pulled from the building.

On Sunday afternoon, authorities called the impound yard and asked an employee to look in the vehicle for anything unusual, a source said.

About 3:15 p.m., the Fire Department's emergency medical technicians were summoned by the towing yard, Humphrey said. "We had one person declared deceased at the scene. . . .

"Obviously, there is interest in our department in what happened. We are awaiting the results of the LAPD investigation. It's purely a law enforcement investigation at this time."

The coroner's office dispatched investigators late Sunday to examine and remove the woman's body.

They did not reach an immediate conclusion as to the precise time or cause of death, said coroner's spokesman Lt. John Kades. Such details will come after a more thorough examination of the body.

"The doctors may have a conclusion after the autopsy if this person died instantly or not," Kades said.

"That's a possibility, but there's no way to tell or predict."

ken.weiss@latimes.com

[CTC III-05]

I bet the LAPD is praying with everything they have got that she died instantly.

[x MAIT]

I bet the LAPD is praying with everything they have got that she died instantly.

It won't matter. Open checkbook; insert a 1 and lots of zeros.

When I heard this I figured that the car was probably severly damaged for them not to see a body in the passenger seat. I guess that it ran into a wall or something similiar.

[SB 405]

Keep in mind here in LA we wrote a check for over a grand to a city Firefighter who was feed dog food as a station prank and claimed he could longer do the job due to stress. So this should really be a doozy.

[bcjack]

News this morning stated she died "Within minutes of the crash". Still a HUGE screwup on the part of all of the responders.

[Jeff Rhea]

No joy. You have to be a subscriber to LA Times. What does the article say?

[Chippysgt]

Take a look at Post #3

[23112]

I was speaking with a Howard Sommers driver the other day and he told me the driver was sort of messed up at the scene and rambling about his mother. LAPD OR'ed the car, apparently without looking at it. Later on, they called Howard Sommers and asked them to look in the car. From what the driver told me, the lady was very small and folded up beneath the dashboard. The airbags had deployed, so apparently she was mostly covered up by the sagging bag.

[Eagl5]

"Uh..LACC could you roll me a sgt. please" :doh:

[Mac]

Very unfortunate for everybody involved.

[PapaBear]

Autopsy showed she died sometime AFTER the accident occurred.

She was wearing a seatbelt and was still strapped in the seat.

A fire chief is highly upset that proper protocol was not followed by his personnel.

A police commander is upset because the proper inventory protocol was not followed when the vehicle was stored.

The city is going to pay big time for this one!!! And, I would imagine some firefighters and police officers will be taking an unpaid leave.

[Andy O'Hara]

What a nightmare. These are the things that are bound to happen sooner or later and you just thank God it wasn't you.

[SB 405]

"died after the accident".....ch-ching