San Jose police have identified the man accused of hitting and killing an officer and injuring another with his car in a suspected DUI crash in the city over the weekend.
Juan Huerta-Palacios, 44, was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI, the San Jose Police Department said in a statement Monday.
Police said that around 9:55 p.m. Saturday, two of its Community Service Officers were conducting traffic control in the area of Monterey Road and Palm Avenue due to an unrelated vehicle collision.
Investigators said that a vehicle, a 2022 silver Dodge Charger occupied by Huerta-Palacios, was traveling southbound on Monterey Road when it drove through a flare pattern and struck the officers' 2017 white Ford Fusion CSO vehicle, which was parked in the south crosswalk of the intersection of Monterey Road and Palm Avenue.
Both officers were given first aid. However, one of the victims, identified as Officer Long Pham, was pronounced deceased at a local hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
The other officer, a woman, was also transported to the hospital with major injuries that were later determined by doctors to be non-life threatening.
"Our entire Police family is heartbroken by this line of duty loss, and our collective arms are around his family, friends, and teammates during this unimaginable time," Acting Chief of Police Paul Joseph said in a statement. "We are also praying for our sister who is still hospitalized with serious injuries."
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Police said Huerta-Palacios was taken into custody and was also transported to a local hospital for an unrelated medical issue, and is expected to be booked into the Santa Clara County Jail upon discharge.
Anyone with information about the crash is urged to contact the San Jose Police Department's Traffic Investigations Unit at (408) 277-4654 or 4461@sanjoseca.gov.
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