NBC 7’s Omari Fleming sat down with the wrong-way driver’s husband to talk about what may have led to the crash.
The husband of the woman who drove the wrong way on Interstate 5 and slammed into San Diego Police Department detectives Jamie Huntley-Park and husband Ryan Park, killing them and herself, said he’s extremely sorry for what happened and thinks his wife's illness may have played a role.
“We’re just, you know, racked with guilt. Is there something -- we did everything we could to take care of her and make sure that she was in good health and safe to drive," Darrell Daniels said. "Is there just something we could have done to prevent it? I continue to rack my brain. The last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt. We support law enforcement."
The tragic crash happened Friday morning in San Ysidro. SDPD Chief David Nisleit said the detectives were on a scheduled day off when they were rammed head-on by Daniels' wife near Dairy Mart Road.
The woman was identified by the Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday as 58-year-old Sandra Daniels.
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Darrell Daniels, a retired Navy officer, described his wife of 33 years as someone who'd never intentionally harm herself or others.
He said prior to the crash, Sandra Daniels went to Balboa Naval Medical Center to get some insulin. He believes her blood-sugar levels may have destabilized on her trip home, disorienting her.
Darrell said he was shown video of his wife driving against traffic prior to the collision.
"You kind of lose consciousness and basically you're not in control of your faculties, and you kind of get tunnel vision, almost like you're looking through a paper towel tube, that's what you see. You can't really -- you don't have any peripheral vision. And so when I saw her going down the freeway, perfect in that lane, you know, I'm certain that she wasn't seeing the cars going by in the opposite direction,” Daniels explained.
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The man, who lives in Ramona, isn't sure why his wife was in the San Ysidro area. He said he's working with law enforcement to get video from the pharmacy released, and he hopes investigators can find her insulin pod in the wreckage to help provide answers.
“Everyone who lives with a diabetic knows that, you know, insulin-dependent diabetics have this fear in the back of their mind that their sugar could drop in a critical moment when, you know, they could hurt themselves or someone else," Daniels said.
Darrell Daniels believes that fear was realized Friday, resulting in the deaths of his wife and two married detectives with long lives and careers ahead of them.
He said while he hasn’t spoken to the family, he’d like to apologize to them in person, if they’d allow him.
Friends, family, coworkers and the greater San Diego community have been offering condolences and showing signs of support since the crash.
Huntley-Park was a renowned hockey referee, who USA Hockey's director of officiating said was among the best in the world. Park was advancing quickly through the ranks of the department, according to Chief Nisleit, who had gotten to know Park through running events the department participated in.
A cousin of the couple told NBC 7 they were loving, family-oriented, and loved to poke fun at their friends and family.
