Driver charged after his boxes spilled onto the freeway and a police officer fatally crashed

A man was charged with vehicular manslaughter for his role in the crash that killed a Manhattan Beach police officer who was also a survivor of the 2017 Las Vegas attack, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Raymond Eugene Sanders, 68, was driving his truck on the northbound 405 Freeway in Carson when boxes of lighting fixtures fell from his truck because they were not properly secured, prosecutors said Tuesday. The fixtures were a key factor in the crash that killed 35-year-old Chad Swanson, who was riding his Manhattan Beach Police Department-issued motorcycle.

“This case is a grim reminder of the devastating consequences of negligence on our roads. Drivers must always remain vigilant and cautious — failure to do so can cost lives,” said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón. “Those who act recklessly and put others in danger will be held accountable.”

Swanson, survived by his wife and three sons, was a survivor of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas who risked his life trying to save others during the deadliest attack of its kind in the history of the country.

The 13-year veteran of the department was at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival along with other off-duty Manhattan Beach police officers when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from a 32nd-floor suite at Mandalay Bay, killing 58.

Swanson was hit in the arm by a bullet fragment.

“I just wanted to try to help as many people as I could,” Swanson said at the time. “At a certain point, we realized that there were no more people in the concert venue that were alive that we could help. We canvassed the whole area to make sure we didn’t miss anybody.”

Sanders is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 3. He faces up to a year in county jail.