LAPD Puts Officer on Leave After Accident

A police officer has been placed on paid leave while in jail for allegedly driving drunk and causing an off-duty car accident that left a 19-year-old with serious burns on almost half his body, the Los Angeles Police Department reported Friday.

James A. Reyes, 35, a North Hollywood Division officer for 10 years, was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony drunk driving at about 3:20 a.m. Thursday after his car smashed into the rear of a disabled sedan on the northbound Golden State Freeway, causing the car to catch fire. He has been placed on leave while he is incarcerated but is still on the city’s payroll, an LAPD spokesman said Friday.

Samuel Yamada of Valencia was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, then transferred to the intensive burn unit of County-USC Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Friday.

Yamada suffered second- and third-degree burns on more than 40% of his body, a County-USC spokeswoman said. Only a small area of his chest was not burned, she said.

Reyes was treated for a forehead cut at Providence Holy Cross.

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Yamada’s car was stopped in the second lane of the Golden State Freeway just north of the Hollywood Freeway when Reyes’ car hit it, said Sgt. Ernie Sanchez of the California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the accident.

Officers at the scene arrested Reyes because he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, Sanchez said. Reyes agreed to take a blood test. Police are waiting for those results, he said.

Reyes has no prior traffic violations, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Reyes told police that he was driving 65 mph, Sanchez said.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether Yamada’s car lights were on, Sanchez said. A witness, another off-duty LAPD officer who was driving near the accident site, told investigators that the lights were off, he said.

“Whether the [off-duty officers] were together or following each other, we don’t know yet,” Sanchez said.

He declined to release the name of the off-duty police officer who witnessed the accident.

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The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting an internal investigation of the accident, according to an LAPD spokesman. An LAPD officer cannot be suspended until charges are brought before a Board of Rights, said David Gascon, chief of staff for the chief of police.

“My condolences go out to both the family of the victim and the family of the police officer,” said Deputy Chief Michael Bostic, chief of operations for the LAPD Valley Bureau. “We do not tolerate criminal acts by police officers.”

Reyes was being held at Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Times staff writers Joe Trevino and Scott Glover contributed to this story.