An undercover Sheriff's deputy was killed when his parked van was struck by an SUV in North Hollywood Tuesday, according to the LAPD. 43-year-old Deputy Raul Gama was killed while doing surveillance work in a parked van in North Hollywood, on the 12400 block of Oxnard in North Hollywood.
The deputy's van was reportedly hit by a 2006 Honda Element traveling westbound on Oxnard, allegedly driven by an 18-year-old boy, possibly inebriated, who fell asleep at the wheel. The deputy was the sole occupant of the van. He was conducting plain-clothes undercover surveillance of a suspect allegedly receiving stolen cellular phones.
Deputy Gama was transferred to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. He died at the hospital of injuries sustained from the collision. The 18-year-old was not injured. He was arrested and is being held on a charge of felony manslaughter.
Deputy Gama was a Santa Monica native and had graduated from the Sheriff's Academy on May 1, 1987. He received a Medal of Valor in 2003. He is survived by his wife and four children, his sister and his mother.
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