Arrest made, murder charges filed in 405 Fwy crash that killed LAPD officer

A 36-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a crash on the 405 Freeway last year that killed a Los Angeles police officer and an innocent motorist, law enforcement officials announced Monday. The June 23, 2025, crash occurred around 2 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the freeway near Getty Center Drive. One of the victims, 34-year-old Jesus Garcia, was on his way home from work when his vehicle was struck and disabled by a hit-and-run driver who remains at large. A second motorist traveling about 70 mph crashed into the median barrier while trying to avoid Garcia’s vehicle. Moments later, LAPD Sgt. Shiou Deng arrived at the crash site with his emergency lights on and positioned his patrol cruiser in front of the two disabled vehicles. “Those emergency lights were such that they could be seen from distances hundreds of yards away,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a news conference announcing the charges. “Thirty-three cars, from the time he turns on his lights to the time that Mr. [Mario Joseph] Bickham shows up, safely pass around Sgt. Deng and Mr. Garcia.” Prosecutors allege that Bickham, behind the wheel of a Nissan, was traveling at 112 mph five seconds before the collision and that by the time he hit his brakes, the crash was unavoidable. Garcia was pronounced dead at the scene, while Deng was rushed to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. “Mario Bickham is someone who is not unfamiliar with excessive speed, as we have laid out in the bail motion,” Hochman said. “Mario Bickham has been routinely cited over the last 15 years for excessive speed.” A month before the deadly crash, Bickham had been cited by the California Highway Patrol for driving more than 105 mph. He failed to appear in court for the violation and had also failed to appear on several prior traffic citations, according to the district attorney. Bickham’s arrest Monday comes a little more than a year after the deadly incident. Authorities did not release details about how the arrest was carried out. He is expected to be arraigned in the coming days, with prosecutors asking that he be held without bail or on bail set at at least $4 million. He has been charged with two counts of murder. After the crash last year, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell described Deng, 53, a 26-year veteran of the department who is survived by his wife and parents, as a dedicated officer who spent 17 years assigned to the department’s mental evaluation unit. “He was out there every day caring for the most vulnerable in our society,” McDonnell said. Firefighters stood at attention and saluted during a procession transporting Deng’s body from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to the coroner’s office in the Hollenbeck area on the morning of the crash.