L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials said this week they’ve been in contact with the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office and a case could be filed by the end of the month regarding the Feb. 6 three-vehicle crash on Bouquet Canyon Road that left two people dead and one injured.
For detectives from the Traffic Services Detail of the Major Crimes Bureau leading the investigation, a recent focus has been on the disciplinary record of the 17-year-old driver they believe to be responsible for the crash.
A driver in a Chevrolet Colorado truck ran a red light at a high rate of speed at 11:58 p.m. and smashed into a white 2019 Honda CR-V driven by Genry Ortiz Torres, 54, which had Silvia “Patty” Lux, 49, and their daughter, Erin Paulina Ortiz, inside. They then crashed head-on into a 2019 GMC Sierra that was stopped at the light.
Torres and Lux were killed in the crash. Both died in the emergency room, according to the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office. Erin Paulina Ortiz was left with serious injuries.
The driver of the truck, who has not been formally charged, was a minor and a Hart High School senior at the time of the incident.
Following deputies’ initial examination of the crash scene, which involved visual signs of intoxication, field sobriety tests and the presence of empty alcohol containers in the teen driver’s car, deputies arrested him on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, DUI causing injury, and DUI under the age of 21.
“It hasn’t been formally presented to the DA’s Office yet,” said Sgt. Mike Lennig of the Traffic Services Unit. “We are in contact with the DA’s Office because there’s some things that are happening that we’re having to do more work on before we formally present a case.”
Case status
Sometimes a case can start in one direction, and then it can “branch off” in another direction, Lennig said, and that’s a result of the evidence gathered from the crash site, witnesses and subsequent investigative efforts.
That’s what’s happened here, he added.
“It definitely got a little more complicated for us, but that’s not unheard of. It happens,” Lennig said in a phone interview Monday.
While Lennig declined to give specifics, a search-warrant inventory returned to the Santa Clarita Courthouse in May gave some insight on how the case has evolved.
The warrant indicated a Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputy shared with the case’s investigator the contact information for Hart High School administration, regarding a Jan. 31, 2025, incident involving the “on-campus possession of drugs or alcohol.”
The incident could prove significant because one of the factors that prosecutors look at when considering more serious charges in a DUI crash scenario is whether a driver has received what’s known as a “Watson advisement.”
The legal notice, given by a law enforcement officer, ends with: “If you continue to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both, and, as a result of that driving, someone is killed, you can be charged with murder,” according to state law.
In lieu of a school suspension, the teen was assigned a Child & Family Center addiction and substance-abuse prevention program, known as CAPE, or Community Action Prevention Education, an educational course he completed almost exactly a year before the crash.
The case’s investigator, Detective James Chambless, sought the records for the educational program the driver received, which was filed in May.
“Your affiant has probable cause to believe (the teenage suspect) was advised of the dangers of driving while being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs as part of the CAPE class curriculum,” according to Chambless’ affidavit. “This advisement can assist in applying the appropriate charges for the fatal car crash.”
Suspected circumstances
The latest warrant also recaps the initial investigation by SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies on the night of the crash.
The driver indicated to a patrol deputy that “he was attempting to time the green light, but the light never turned green,” according to a February search warrant. The deputy also said he saw objective signs of a person under the influence. The driver declined to submit a blood sample, which was later obtained at the hospital.
The results of two blood-alcohol tests administered at the scene came back with readings of 0.026 and 0.024, respectively, according to court records.
A 33-year-old driver was idling his car in the No. 3 left-turning lane on Bouquet Canyon Road, attempting to turn onto Newhall Ranch Road, when he saw the collision. He estimated the truck was traveling at about 100 mph when it ran the “solid red.”
Community response
The community has responded generously to the tragedy facing the Ortiz family, which lived in Santa Clarita. A GoFundMe page created by family friends indicated the three were coming back from church when the crash occurred.
The effort has raised just over $121,000 of its $150,000 goal.
“Their children, Erin and David, are now left to face a future forever altered by this devastating loss,” according to the web page.
To support the Ortiz family, the GoFundMe page can be found at tinyurl.com/3ba4d4z5.
Video of the scene on the night of the crash can be found at youtu.be/BxaA83dshSw.
