San Diego police identify the officer killed in a collision with a speeding vehicle

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego police officer killed when a fleeing vehicle crashed into his patrol car had been with the department since 2019. Thirty-year-old Officer Austin Machitar died in the collision late Monday and his partner that night was critically injured. The driver of the speeding car also was killed. The department says Machitar was assigned to patrol, served as a field training officer and participated in recruiting new officers. Twenty-seven-year-old Officer Zach Martinez has been with the department for 1 1/2 years and is a former trainee of Machitar. Initial information says an officer saw the speeding vehicle and briefly gave chase before a supervisor canceled the pursuit. Machitar and Martinez were responding when the speeding vehicle crashed into their patrol car.