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San Bernardino police officer dies in crash with suspected drunk driver

He was released and arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI causing injury or death, Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Higbee said.

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Lawhead says the officer had been with the department for at least 10 years. That’s when he was broadsided in the intersection by a suspected drunk driver.

The crash was reported around 2:05 a.m.at the corner of Etiwanda Avenue and Fourth Street on the border of Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Hanes’ brother was also in law enforcement, last serving as a San Bernardino police detective until he recently retired from the department.

Bryce Hanes of Redlands, a 12-year veteran who worked the overnight patrol shift, was killed after his auto was T-boned at Fourth and Etiwanda when a suspected drunk driver ran a red light, police said.

“Bryce was one of those guys that came to work every day with a great attitude”, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.

Ontario police determined that a 27-year-old Fontana motorist drove his auto through a red traffic light, slamming into Hanes’ patrolcar and sending it into a utility pole.

The Charger went off the road, over a dirt embankment and wound up in a field, police said.

He was “being evaluated for signs of being intoxicated”, Russell told the Los Angeles Times.

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Burguan called Hanes an exemplary officer.

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