Truck driver avoids jail time in 2014 crash that killed LAPD officer
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A truck driver convicted in a Beverly Hills crash that killed a Los Angeles police officer will avoid jail time.
Robert Maldonado was sentenced to five years probation in court Tuesday. He pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter.
Veteran LAPD officer Nicholas Lee died after Maldonado's truck hit the officer's cruiser back in 2014.
Investigators determined the truck's brakes failed because Maldonado did not properly maintain the vehicle as required by law.
The crash occurred at approximately 8 a.m. at the intersection of Loma Vista Drive and Robert Lane on March 7, 2014.
The patrol car was destroyed and 40-year-old Lee was killed on impact. A rookie female officer was treated and released from a local hospital.
Lee immigrated from Korea with his parents at the age of 6 and grew up in Koreatown. After graduating from Cal State Fullerton in 1996, he joined the LAPD in 1998. He was a 16-year LAPD veteran who received more than 70 commendations.
