Motorcycle Deputy Dies in Crash With Car

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy and motorcycle trainee was fatally injured Wednesday when he collided with a car near Diamond Bar, authorities said.

Brandan Hinkle, 33, of Aliso Viejo, was taken to Brea Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Sheriff Lee Baca said.

The driver of the car and a 2-year-old girl riding with her were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. They were treated and released, Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Leyva said.

Hinkle was the first deputy to die on duty during the two years and three months Baca has led the department.

“The Sheriff’s Department is in a mourning period,” Baca said at the hospital.

Hinkle was riding north on Brea Canyon Cutoff just south of Pathfinder Road behind a training deputy when he collided at about 3:05 p.m. with a southbound Lexus at a bend in the road, Leyva said.

No one was cited, and it was unknown how fast either driver was going, or whether the deputy or motorist strayed into the other’s lane, Leyva said. However, Hinkle was not driving at emergency speeds.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, Leyva said.

Hinkle, an 11-year veteran of the force, had been assigned to the Lomita station for the past nine years. He was training to be a motorcycle deputy at the Walnut/Diamond Bar station.

He had been training for two to three months and was weeks away from becoming a motorcycle deputy, Leyva said.

Hinkle is survived by his wife of six years, Michelle.