By Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
SANTA FE SPRINGS — A former California Highway Patrol officer and a Bellflower woman were charged yesterday with four counts of murder each in connection with a fiery crash on the southbound 605 Freeway last summer that left four young people dead, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced.
Angelo Rodriguez, 23, who was on duty at the time of the crash but is no longer with the CHP, and Iris Salmeron, 27, are accused of playing separate but intertwined roles in the July 20, 2025, collision that claimed the lives of Juliana Hamori, 23, of Huntington Beach; Armand DelCampo, 24, of San Pedro; Jordan Partridge, 23, of Los Angeles; and Samantha Skocilic, 22, of Westminster.
“This horrific tragedy could have been avoided if a motorist accused of drunk driving hadn’t gotten behind the wheel and driven over 110 miles per hour and an on-duty CHP officer hadn’t driven over 130 miles per hour and neglected his duty,” said Hochman. “These two defendants are now inextricably linked because they consciously chose to disregard human life over responsibility, leaving four families grieving and irreparably changing the lives of everyone affected by one night of unimaginable trauma.”
According to prosecutors, Rodriguez was driving his patrol cruiser at more than 130 mph on the southbound 605 at approximately 12:50 a.m. — without activating his emergency lights or sirens and without justification — when he rear-ended a vehicle carrying the four victims as it entered the HOV lane.
Rather than immediately reporting the crash or initiating a traffic break to protect the disabled vehicle now stranded in the HOV lane, Rodriguez allegedly pulled onto the right shoulder and waited approximately three minutes. He then exited the freeway and called CHP dispatch — without disclosing his own involvement in the crash — before heading northbound to return to the scene.
In the window created by that delay, Salmeron — allegedly driving at more than 100 mph with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit — plowed into the stranded vehicle, triggering a fiery explosion that killed all four occupants. Salmeron and a passenger in her car were injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
Prosecutors say Rodriguez’s culpability for murder stems from his conscious disregard for human life: driving at extreme speed without justification, striking the victims’ vehicle, leaving the scene, and leaving the occupants in peril in a live lane of traffic.
The DA’s office noted that Rodriguez had received extensive CHP training on safe driving and collision response, and that he had previously been involved in two prior on-duty traffic collisions.
Salmeron, who prosecutors say had attended a high school event at which the dangers of drunk driving were discussed, was charged with murder on the theory that driving while intoxicated at extreme speed constituted a conscious disregard for human life, endangering everyone on the road that night.
Both defendants are scheduled to be arraigned today in the Bellflower Courthouse. Prosecutors are recommending bail of $8 million each.
If convicted on all counts, both face up to life in state prison.
