At around 10:30 PM on March 31 of last year, LAPD Lieutenant Matthew Ensley was driving his gray Audi A6 down the 605 Freeway on his way to the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, when he drove into the rear end of 32-year-old Mario De La Cruz Jr.’s Toyota Camry.
The impact of the collision shattered Ensley’s front windshield and sent the Camry spinning out of control in a “circular motion” across the road until it hit a concrete center divider wall, according to a police report obtained by journalist Joey Scott, reviewed by L.A. TACO. After the crash, both men riding in the Toyota were transported to UCI Health in Los Alamitos.
When a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer arrived at the scene, they found Ensley sitting on a concrete barrier on the right shoulder of the freeway, reeking of alcohol.
As the highway patrol officer spoke to Ensley, he noticed that the off-duty LAPD officer’s speech was “heavily slurred” and he swayed back and forth while slowly inching forward with watery, bloodshot eyes.
When asked how intoxicated he was on a scale from 1-10—one being slightly buzzed and 10 being black-out-drunk—Ensley told the officer, “One, the reason is because I’m bigger than most people that drink. I’m 6’6” 175 [pounds]. That is the reason why I’m safe.”