Off-duty LAPD officer killed in motorcycle crash

PORTER RANCH (CNS) - The Los Angeles Police Department is mourning one of their own Friday after an off-duty officer riding a motorcycle was killed when he collided with a car in Porter Ranch.

The crash was reported about 6:50 p.m. Thursday in the 10800 block of Tampa Avenue, near Chatsworth Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The officer, identified by the coroner's office as 34-year-old John Gasparyan of Canyon Country, was taken to a hospital where he died, police said.

The driver of the car remained at the scene of the crash and cooperated with the investigation, police said.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck took to Twitter late Thursday night to express his sorrow.

"Tonight will be tough. We tragically lost (an officer) to an off-duty traffic collision. Keep his family in your thoughts and prayers,'' Beck wrote.

Beck said Gasparyan was with the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division.

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