A 24-year-old Pasadena man was arrested on suspicion of drunkenly ramming his father with a Ford Bronco during a family dispute early on Sept. 19, then fleeing the scene, leaving his father critically injured with a major wound to his leg and pelvis. Jack Robert Modrzejewski was later booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, driving under the influence and hit-and-run causing injury, and he posted bail and was released the following day.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Pasadena police were called to a family disturbance in the 300 block of Mooresque Drive at 12:31 a.m. Authorities said Modrzejewski accelerated into his father, Chris Modrzejewski, knocking him onto the hood of the vehicle before he fell into the roadway. Lt. Monica Cuellar said Jack Modrzejewski was attempting to leave the scene while heavily intoxicated when the collision occurred.
Crash, Flight and Arrest
Police say that while fleeing, Modrzejewski collided with a city power pipe on Glen Oaks Boulevard near Manford Way. He then drove to a friend's house in the 900 block of Linda Vista Avenue, where officers arrested him. An arrest record from localcrimenews.com lists the charge as assault with a deadly weapon or assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, noting explicitly that the person named has only been arrested on suspicion of the crime and is presumed innocent.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is reviewing the case for potential charges, the Times reports. It remains unresolved whether prosecutors will ultimately file charges or what plea, if any, might follow.
Father's Injuries and a New Fire Department Program
Chris Modrzejewski was critically injured and suffered a major injury to his left leg and pelvis. Pasadena Fire Department paramedics provided him with an emergency blood transfusion at the scene before he was taken to Huntington Hospital for treatment, per the same account.
The transfusion notably came just weeks after the Pasadena City Council approved a new emergency blood transfusion program in August, and the incident marked the fire department's first use of the new program, which stores blood in two battalion chief vehicles. Paramedics can now begin blood transfusions at the scene of severe bleeding emergencies rather than waiting until a patient reaches a hospital. Chad Augustin said firefighter paramedics can begin critical treatment sooner by bringing blood directly to patients in the field.
Severe bleeding is one of the leading causes of preventable death following traumatic injury, and research has found that every one-minute delay in receiving a transfusion increases mortality rates by 2%. Broader academic research has similarly found that the vast majority of preventable deaths from traumatic bleeding occur in the prehospital phase of resuscitation, according to a study published on onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Separate prehospital trials examining plasma transfusion and mortality outcomes have been documented in research cited by pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Two Well-Known Names in Local Politics
Chris Modrzejewski is a principal at M Strategic Communications, where he worked on the campaign to approve what was then Banc of California Stadium, now BMO Stadium. He previously served as director of policy for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, and his firm took on Lineage as a client following the toxic fire at its Boyle Heights cold-storage warehouse.
Jack Modrzejewski works at LA28, the organization planning the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where he has worked on state and local affairs teams supporting government relations and stakeholder engagement for the Games. The case remains under review, and no additional updates on his employment status have been reported.
