Police say a rookie LAPD officer killed a bicyclist in a DUI crash in Ontario

A rookie LAPD officer has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after a bicyclist was hit and killed in Ontario on Christmas Eve, police said.

Aaron Kleibacker, 39, was driving south on Bon View Avenue when his vehicle struck a bicyclist on Dec. 24 around 7:37 p.m., Corp. said. Eliseo Guerrero, spokesman for the Ontario Police Service.

Guerrero said Kleibacker initially fled the scene but returned. According to Guerrero, Kleibacker passed a field sobriety test that showed his blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. He said he didn’t know whether Kleibacker identified himself to investigators as a law enforcement officer, but he was willing to cooperate.

Guerrero said this particular stretch of Bon View, a two-lane road with relatively little traffic, “hasn’t been a problem in the past.”

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Guerrero said the cyclist was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries. The medical examiner identified him as 38-year-old Fabio Cebreros, and police said he was from Chino.

According to an online inmate directory, Kleibacker was booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of vehicular homicide and released on Christmas Day. Fees are pending.

Emails sent to accounts listed for Kleibacker were not returned Thursday.

Kleibacker was most recently assigned to the Rampart Division and his social media presence suggested he joined the division after serving in the U.S. Marines.

On Monday, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman confirmed that Kleibacker was still employed but otherwise declined to comment on the matter. Officers who are on probation after graduating from the police academy can be fired immediately for alleged misconduct, without having the opportunity to present their cases at an Rights Commission hearing like other officers.

His arrest was the latest in a series of alcohol-related incidents, which has been an ongoing problem in Los Angeles.

In April, an off-duty lieutenant who posted messages online warning against driving under the influence of alcohol charged with felony DUI in connection with a crash on Highway 605 in Santa Fe Springs that injured at least one person.

Lt. Matthew Ensley allegedly had a blood alcohol level more than twice that level at the time of his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is expected to return to court later this month to set a date for a preliminary hearing. In the meantime, his statewide police powers have been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of his criminal case.

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Drunk driving and the department’s allegedly lenient approach to such cases have been the subject of Police Commission scrutiny in the past. The civilian regulator voted to tighten the department’s alcohol policy, lowering the legal blood alcohol level limit for an off-duty armed officer to 0.04% in some situations.

Committee commented on this issue drinking off duty in response to a Times Report 2021 suggesting that the department has failed to develop a clear policy despite numerous cases in recent years where off-duty and armed officers allegedly caused trouble, broke the law and shot people under the influence of alcohol.

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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.