(L.A.) Gerardo Estrada, 30, Died After Skating Head-On into LAPD Vehicle
Case Number: 2025-14958
Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 30-year-old Latino male that occurred on a street.
The coroner’s office identified the man as Gerardo Estrada.
Manner of Death: Accident
Cause of Death: Blunt-Force Injuries
RIP GERARDO ESTRADA (August 4, 1995 – September 19, 2025)
Formal pronouncement of death was made on Friday night.
The decedent was on a skateboard when he was fatally hit by a Los Angeles Police Department patrol cruiser at around 7:23 p.m.
Incident location:
North Figueroa Street & Woodside Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Sycamore Grove Park is in the area, which is considered to be Highland Park / Mount Washington / Northeast L.A.
Map views only approximate location and do not indicate the precise spot where the incident happened.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/jerry-estradas-funeral-expenses
On November 3, LAPD released the video below, which includes bodycam footage.
California law requires skateboarders on public roadways to obey traffic rules such as staying close to the far-right edge of the roadway, riding in the direction of traffic, and yielding to vehicles. Riding in the center median traveling in the opposite direction of oncoming traffic is against these rules. The center median is not intended for through travel or skating, and skateboarding the wrong way in such a location violates California traffic laws and poses a significant safety hazard. Therefore, the skateboarder skating in the median against the direction of traffic was violating traffic rules and skating in the wrong direction.
Estrada was skateboarding southbound in the center median of North Figueroa Street while an LAPD patrol car was responding northbound with lights and sirens through the median.
The center median is normally intended to separate opposing lanes of traffic, and regular vehicles or pedestrians/skateboarders should not be there. However, emergency vehicles can use the median to bypass stopped or slow-moving traffic during an emergency response. This practice is legal under California Vehicle Code section 21055, which allows emergency vehicles to be exempt from certain traffic laws when their lights and sirens are on.
What LAPD did wrong: The purpose of CPR is to artificially circulate oxygenated blood to the brain and other vital organs until a defibrillator or advanced medical care can take over. Even with internal bleeding, circulating some blood is better than circulating no blood. Without CPR, brain death begins in just 4-6 minutes.
The internal bleeding may be untreatable at the scene, but it is not irreversible in a hospital with a trauma team, blood transfusions, and emergency surgery. The only thing that is immediately irreversible without intervention is the lack of blood flow to the brain.
This is an example of LAPD’s inadequate training for their low-IQ DEI cops. The current consensus in first aid and trauma life support is clear: In the absence of obvious signs of death (like decapitation, decomposition, or rigor mortis), if there is no pulse, you do CPR.