Latest news with #Verduzco
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former Corpus Christi police officer convicted on charge of enticement of a minor
A U.S. district court has convicted a former Corpus Christi Police Department officer of coercing a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him. Daniel Abelardo Verduzco, 32, entered a plea of guilty on May 16 to one count of enticement of a minor, according to records from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. U.S. District Judge David S. Morales found Verduzco guilty on May 23 and ordered a presentence investigation report to be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office. Morales accepted the plea on June 9. Verduzco is scheduled to appear for sentencing on Aug. 21. U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents notified the Corpus Christi Police Department that they had arrested Verduzco on Jan. 19 in Nueces County. Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, began investigating Verduzco on Jan. 8 after a concerned parent told them that she thought her daughter was involved in a relationship with a Corpus Christi police officer. The mother looked at her daughter's Snapchat account and found photo messages between her daughter and a user known as 'Danny' inside of a police cruiser with a computer mount and laptop that revealed sensitive information about police calls and notes about the police calls, the Caller-Times previously reported. Tulsa police found that the girl and the Snapchat user had exchanged more than 3,700 messages, which included photos of the girl's breasts and videos and photos of her in sexually suggestive poses and outfits, according to a criminal complaint filed on Jan. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The teenager's mother said that at the time she believed 'Danny' to be the same age as her daughter, the complaint showed. However, her daughters confirmed that 'Danny' was a police officer, she said. Verduzco is no longer employed with the city of Corpus Christi, Lt. Eryca Gonzalez of the Corpus Christi Police Department confirmed on June 16. The department previously placed Verduzco on administrative leave after the investigation began in January. Gonzalez said the police department fully cooperated with the investigation, which was led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but did not comment further on the case. (This story was updated to add new information.) More: How can I learn more about sex offenders in my area? Nueces County has a tool for that More: Two individuals charged in crimes involving sex trafficking, solicitation of minors This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Former Corpus Christi officer convicted of sexually coercing minor
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Former LAPD officer pleads guilty to murder in DUI crash that killed 3
A former LAPD officer accused of slamming into another vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol — killing all the passengers inside — pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of murder, prosecutors said. Edgar Verduzco, 34, also pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and one count of driving with a 0.08% blood-alcohol content causing injury, according to the L.A. County district attorney's office. He faces three concurrent terms of 15 years to life in state prison, as well as one concurrent term of three years, authorities said. Verduzco, of Santa Ana, was arrested in April 2018 — roughly seven months after authorities say he sped his Chevy Camaro into the rear of a Nissan while driving drunk south on the 605 Freeway in Whittier. Read more: LAPD officer arrested on 3 counts of murder in suspected DUI crash in Whittier Verduzco, who was off duty, was driving at a speed of 150 mph, according to the district attorney's office. The Nissan burst into flames. The three occupants — Mario Davila, 60; his wife, Maribel Davila, 52; and their son Oscar Davila, 19 — died in their vehicle. Verduzco's vehicle continued on and hit a second car, injuring the driver, a mother and her baby in a car seat, authorities said. Just hours before the crash, Verduzco allegedly posted an Instagram video from a bar with the message '#dontdrinkanddrive,' KTLA reported. In 2019, Verduzco pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and related offenses stemming from the crash. He was a police officer at the time of the crash but has since been relieved of duty, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Read more: Former LAPD officer pleads not guilty in connection with DUI crash that killed 3 "As a police officer, Mr. Verduzco was aware that recklessly driving under the influence of alcohol at 150 miles per hour was extremely dangerous to human life and could result in the death of innocent victims, as it tragically did in this case," L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. "Oscar Davila, a beloved student at UC Riverside, was just 19 years old, and his life and his parents' lives were senselessly taken in an instant," he continued. "My support and sympathy go out to the Davila family's loved ones, including Oscar's four surviving siblings." Read more: Friends and relatives mourn parents and son killed in suspected DUI crash with LAPD officer Verduzco is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown L.A. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
12-04-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Former LAPD officer pleads guilty to murder in DUI crash that killed 3
A former LAPD officer accused of slamming into another vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol — killing all the passengers inside — pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of murder, prosecutors said. Edgar Verduzco, 34, also pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and one count of driving with a 0.08% blood-alcohol content causing injury, according to the L.A. County district attorney's office. He faces three concurrent terms of 15 years to life in state prison, as well as one concurrent term of three years, authorities said. Verduzco, of Santa Ana, was arrested in April 2018 — roughly seven months after authorities say he sped his Chevy Camaro into the rear of a Nissan while driving drunk south on the 605 Freeway in Whittier. Verduzco, who was off duty, was driving at a speed of 150 mph, according to the district attorney's office. The Nissan burst into flames. The three occupants — Mario Davila, 60; his wife, Maribel Davila, 52; and their son Oscar Davila, 19 — died in their vehicle. Verduzco's vehicle continued on and hit a second car, injuring the driver, a mother and her baby in a car seat, authorities said. Just hours before the crash, Verduzco allegedly posted an Instagram video from a bar with the message '#dontdrinkanddrive,' KTLA reported. In 2019, Verduzco pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and related offenses stemming from the crash. He was a police officer at the time of the crash but has since been relieved of duty, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. 'As a police officer, Mr. Verduzco was aware that recklessly driving under the influence of alcohol at 150 miles per hour was extremely dangerous to human life and could result in the death of innocent victims, as it tragically did in this case,' L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. 'Oscar Davila, a beloved student at UC Riverside, was just 19 years old, and his life and his parents' lives were senselessly taken in an instant,' he continued. 'My support and sympathy go out to the Davila family's loved ones, including Oscar's four surviving siblings.' Verduzco is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown L.A.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Former LAPD officer pleads guilty to murder in DUI crash that killed family of three
A former Los Angeles police officer has pleaded guilty to three counts of murder for a 2017 drunk driving crash that killed a mother, father, and their 19-year-old son on the 605 Freeway, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Friday. Edgar Verduzco, 34, admitted to three counts of murder, one count of driving under the influence causing injury, and one count of driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent causing injury. Verduzco was off-duty and speeding at 150 mph when he crashed into two vehicles on Sept. 26, 2017. One vehicle hit the center divider and caught fire, killing Maribel Davila, Mario Davila, and their son, Oscar Davila, a 19-year-old UC Riverside student. The second vehicle's driver, a mother with a baby in a car seat, suffered minor injuries. Shortly before the crash, a video apparently filmed at a bar was posted on Verduzco's Instagram account with the hashtag #dontdrinkanddrive. 'I cannot tell you how angry and disappointed I am that a Los Angeles police officer would disregard the law and cause an accident with such awful, awful consequences,' then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said at the time of his arrest. Verduzco was initially released from jail due to 'insufficient grounds to file charges,' but he was arrested and formally charged months later. Hochman offered his condolences to the surviving members of the Davila family, and saying Verduzco's actions were not fitting for someone entrusted to enforce the law. 'As a police officer, Mr. Verduzco was aware that recklessly driving under the influence of alcohol at 150 miles per hour was extremely dangerous to human life and could result in the death of innocent victims, as it tragically did in this case,' Hochman said. '[The three family members] were senselessly taken in an instant.' Verduzco is scheduled to be sentenced July 11 and faces three concurrent terms of 15 years to life in state prison for the murder charges, as well as a concurrent three-year term for the DUI-related offenses. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
