Last Updated on February 17, 2019 by CCAR Staff
An off-duty San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy was killed early Sunday in a traffic collision in Chino, and the driver of the other car was arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular manslaughter, deputies said.
Deputy Nicholas O’Loughlin, who died in the collision, joined the department on July 8, 2017 after graduating from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Training Academy. He was assigned to the West Valley Detention Center, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
San Bernardino County inmate records show the man arrested after the collision, Yijie Mao, 26, of Alhambra, was in custody at the Central Detention Facility in San Bernardino, in lieu of posting bond on $250,000 bail.
A Chino Police Department statement said O’Loughlin, of Chino Hills, was driving southbound on Euclid Avenue in a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado at about 12:30 a.m. when he was struck by Mao’s vehicle — a 2014 BMW compact SUV traveling westbound on Edison Avenue.
O’Loughlin was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mao was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury, after police allege that he was found to be driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.
The roadway where the collision occurred was closed for approximately nine hours while traffic investigators from the Chino Police Department went over the scene.
O’Loughlin “left a positive impression on his friends and coworkers and will be deeply missed,” the Sheriff’s Department said. He is survived by his father Bill, mother Crystal, and brother Jonathan, the sheriff’s release said.
Chino police asked anyone with information about the crash to contact investigators at 909-334-3018 or mbloch@chinopd.org.
