Off-Duty Deputy Injured in Crash

An off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who graduated from the academy and was sworn in Friday was critically injured early Saturday when his car was broadsided by a bread truck near Whittier.

Rescuers took 45 minutes to remove Deputy Kevin J. Rodrigues, 24, of Pico Rivera from the wreckage of his car after the 2 a.m. collision, officials said.

Rodrigues suffered massive head and chest injuries and was reported in extremely critical condition after emergency surgery at Whittier Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital.

Joseph Calvin, 25, of Santa Fe Springs, the driver of a delivery van loaded with french bread, suffered minor injuries in the accident, according to the California Highway Patrol, which is investigating.

CHP Officer Monty Keifer said Rodrigues was driving westbound on Telegraph Road and Calvin was driving northbound on Florence Avenue when the two vehicles collided.

Investigators have not been able to determine which driver entered the intersection against a red light, Keifer said. But alcohol and drugs “were not a factor” in the accident, he said.

It was not known where Rodrigues, a former Marine who is engaged to be married to a Marine, had been immediately before the accident. Along with 98 other sheriff’s cadets who completed an 18-week training program, he took part in graduation ceremonies Friday morning at the sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services Center near Whittier, when he was sworn in as a deputy sheriff, officials said.