Long Beach Officer Is Killed as Patrol Car Crashes Into Signpost

A Long Beach police officer on a car-theft call was killed early Sunday when his speeding patrol car slammed into a signpost on the Long Beach Freeway, disintegrating and spreading pieces of the car over lanes in both directions.

The California Highway Patrol closed the freeway near Long Beach Boulevard in both directions while it investigated the 5:05 a.m. crash. Interstate 710 was still closed more than 16 hours later, with the southbound lanes expected to be closed at least until midnight.

Officers said at least five cars struck the debris and perhaps the officer’s body, which had been thrown across the center divider.

The Long Beach Police Department identified the officer as Karl Duane Simons, 26, of Fullerton, a four-year veteran of the force. A spokeswoman said Simons leaves his wife, Leslie, 24, and a 7-month-old daughter.

Police said Simons had been dispatched to a report of a stolen car parked in north Long Beach with the thieves still sitting in it. Fellow officers said Simons was especially enthusiastic about stolen car cases.

According to the CHP, witnesses said Simons was traveling “very fast” in the northbound lanes just north of Long Beach Boulevard when his car bumped or sideswiped the left rear of a car ahead.

The collision sent the patrol car onto the concrete center divider. It rode tilted with its left wheels on the wall, right wheels on the pavement, for about 100 feet before smashing into an 18-inch-diameter steel signpost, witnesses said. Investigators said the car might have been airborne briefly.

The impact broke the car in two and hurled both its rear half and Simons’ body across the divider and into southbound lanes. A CHP investigator said the initial impact was so severe it probably killed Simons instantly.

It was the first on-duty death of a Long Beach police officer since 1981, when Lloyd Lunt, a motorcycle officer, died in a collision on the San Diego Freeway.

The driver of the car struck by Simons’ vehicle was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and released with a bruised knee, said a CHP spokeswoman. The driver’s name was withheld by investigators.

At least five cars struck debris from the patrol car, but none of the occupants were injured, the CHP said. Other cars may have been involved but did not stop, a spokeswoman said.

CHP Officer Jennifer Pendergast said investigators found fresh red paint scrapings on the center divider near the accident, suggesting that a red car might have been involved in the accident.

“It might have been someone who scraped against the wall 15 minutes earlier--we can’t tell,” said Pendergast. “If that’s the case, we’d like to hear from that person so we can get it settled.”

The CHP’s special team for investigating major accidents was summoned to the scene because an on-duty law enforcement officer was involved, Pendergast said. They used elevated platforms and a helicopter to photograph the scene.

Officers, friends, relatives and neighbors gathered at Simons’ house in Fullerton on Sunday to comfort his widow.

Leslie Simons, a medical receptionist who works daylight hours, said her husband called regularly at night to reassure her. He had telephoned only a few minutes before he died. “He called in to say he was OK--his normal check-in,” she said. Karl Simons was about to receive his criminal justice degree from Cal State Long Beach and planned to work for the Long Beach force “for 90 years,” she said. His favorite part of police work was “chasing stolen cars,” she said.

When it came to stolen cars, “he was awesome,” said fellow Long Beach Officer J.P. Morgan. He and others at the Simons house said the officer would check every license plate and study every profile of every stolen car.

“He would remember a plate broadcast days before,” said one officer.

Long Beach Police Sgt. Joe Battle said he was the first supervisor Simons had after joining the Long Beach force Jan. 18, 1993, “and I enjoyed supervising him.”

Simons was remarkable for his enthusiasm, Battle said. “You could tell his ambition was to be a police officer. You could see a spark in his eye. . . . One hundred and ten percent is not enough to say how he loved his job.”

Times staff writer Renee Tawa contributed to this story.