CHP Officer Miguel Cano, who died after Culver City crash, had fentanyl in his system, medical examiner says

CULVER CITY, Calif. (CNS) — The death of a 34-year-old California Highway Patrol officer following a Culver City visitors crash that occurred whereas he and his associate have been transporting a DUI suspect was attributable to the results of the highly effective opioid fentanyl, the county Medical Examiner’s Office has decided.

Officer Miguel Cano, 34, was driving a CHP cruiser round 12:30 a.m. on July 2, 2025, close to Bristol Parkway and Green Valley Circle when the car crashed. According to CHP, Cano and his associate had arrested a DUI suspect who allegedly had “a large quantity” of cocaine.

Cano informed his associate he was feeling ailing, and moments later, their cruiser veered off the street and struck a tree. Cano was given the overdose-reversal drug Narcan as a precaution, authorities stated.

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He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the place he died. The different officer and the suspect each suffered minor accidents. The crash occurred simply blocks from the CHP’s West Los Angeles workplace, the place the officers had been headed.

According to a press release from the Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday, Cano’s reason for loss of life was decided to be the results of fentanyl.

“The time and route of how the fentanyl was introduced into Officer Cano’s system is unknown and cannot be determined,” based on the medical examiner. “The manner of death is accidental.” Authorities had beforehand stated they believed he suffered some type of medical emergency.

Cano joined the CHP in 2023. He lived in Moreno Valley and had been married for 10 years to his spouse, Melissa. They wed in a transformed bullfighting ring in Zacatecas, Mexico, her native nation. The couple had no youngsters.

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