A Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station official confirmed the person killed in a fatal collision just after 2 a.m. Saturday was an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer.
A message from LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell identified the officer as Bailey Magana, a father of three who worked in the San Fernando Valley.
“It is with deep sorrow that we share the tragic loss of Police Officer II Bailey Magana, Serial No. 44838, who was assigned to Mission Area, and was killed early Saturday morning in an off-duty traffic collision in Santa Clarita,” read McDonnell’s message, posted on LAPD social media. “Officer Magana leaves behind a loving wife, three young children, devoted parents, siblings, and countless coworkers and friends who are grieving this unimaginable loss.”
“Deputies responded to the intersection of Cinema Drive and Bouquet Canyon Road in Saugus regarding an unconscious person trapped inside a vehicle,” according to an email Monday from Capt. Brandon Barclay of the SCV Sheriff’s Station. “The caller reported a Tesla had crashed into a utility pole and was fully engulfed in flames.”
L.A. County Fire Department officials said they received a call reporting a traffic collision at 2:15 a.m., and they were on the scene five minutes later.
“Upon arrival, deputies observed the vehicle heavily damaged with live electrical wires hanging from the pole,” according to Barclay’s email.
L.A. County Fire Department personnel extinguished the blaze, and the driver was pronounced deceased at the scene, he added.
There was no information immediately available about the circumstances surrounding what caused the crash.
The crash also resulted in a DUI investigation for a separate incident, he added.
“Shortly after the incident, a separate driver in another vehicle drove through the scene and was subsequently arrested for DUI,” he said, adding the second driver was unrelated to the initial traffic collision.
The LAPD’s media information bureau did not respond to a request for a comment as of this story’s publication.
“The identification of the deceased person will not be released until the family and department members of the decedent has been given proper notification,” Barclay said. “This is an ongoing investigation. There is no further information at the time.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident can contact the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at 661-260-4000. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org. Lastly, tipsters can also download the “P3 Tips” mobile application and select the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers as their local program.
