Man driving stolen car killed in crash on Hwy 74, officials say
UPDATED #3 03/29/2016 11:45 p.m.
On-Scene Photographer: Aric Bell / Hemet Valley Incidents
On-Scene Videographer: Eddie George / Hemet Eye News
A man attempting to flee from law enforcement officers in a stolen car died in a violent crash on Tuesday, March 29. The fatal traffic collision occurred at the intersection of Florida Avenue and Four Seasons Boulevard, between Hemet and Homeland.
The accident was so severe, California Highway Patrol officers initially called for the closure of all lanes of Florida Avenue, while officers conduct an accident investigation. One eastbound lane of Florida Avenue was later opened.
The crash destroyed the stolen vehicle and caused major damage to a pickup truck that the car smashed into. The accident left mangled car parts and debris strewn across the entire roadway.
The driver of the truck, identified as Leonel Aguirre, 25, of Long Beach, was airlifted to Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley. He sustained multiple fractures, CHP officials said.
The incident that led to the fatal collision began about 12:25 p.m., according to Officer Darren Meyer, public information officer for CHP.
Law enforcement officers saw a gold sedan stopped in the middle of Truelson Avenue. As officers approached the vehicle, they saw it did not have license plates on it and they saw what appeared to be an unconscious person in the driver’s seat, according to Meyer.
Officers attempted to make contact with the driver, to determine if he needed medical attention, however the vehicle’s doors were locked. While the officers knocked on the vehicle’s windows and attempted to wake the driver, they reportedly saw drug paraphernalia in the car.
As the officers continued to try to get the man’s attention, he suddenly woke up, Meyer said. When the man saw officers outside his vehicle, he immediately fled the area, first driving southbound on Truelson Avenue, before turning left onto eastbound Florida Avenue.
Before officers could turn around to pursue the car, they lost sight of it, Meyer said. As the officers attempted to find the car, they came upon debris from the collision strewn across the roadway along Florida Avenue at Four Seasons Blvd.
The damage to the stolen car was so severe, the driver’s arm was severed, Meyer said. He was taken to Hemet Valley Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation conducted by CHP officers indicated the driver of the gold car, who has only been identified as a 33 to 34-year-old male, lost control of the stolen vehicle he was driving. Witness statements and evidence at the scene of the fatal collision indicated the driver lost control after he attempted to pass a vehicle at a high rate of speed. After veering into the westbound lanes of Florida Avenue, the stolen car collided nearly head-on with the pickup truck.
After the accident, witnesses took to social media, sharing photographs and first-hand accounts of what they had seen. One witness described seeing family members of the man killed in the collision running from their home near the accident down a hill above the roadway to be with their loved one. Others posted photographs of the fatal accident and subsequent investigation.
Those who saw the aftermath of the accident and others who saw pictures of the collision scene expressed a sense of shock after the second fatal traffic collision to occur in the same general area, on the same day. The other deadly traffic accident occurred at about 3:30 a.m., on Ramona Expressway and Lakeview Avenue, in the unincorporated area of Nuevo.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
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He was driving a STOLEN CAR??? I hate to sound heartless here,
but you know what they say,
“Karmas’ a kvetch.”
Heartless isnt what im thinking about calling you right now till all your family members are angels and saints keep ur comments to yourself!!!!! this was my cousin and none of us will ever know now what he was dealing with or what troubles he had!!!!
You don’t hate to sound that way at all. I’d like to see what karma has in store for someone like you.
That is exactly why all these meth user’s need to put in some sort of mantory sober living for a good year they just get a slap on hand and continue to use and cause fatalities to the hard at work non drug user’s and destroy rob kill innocent families.
Whose family was killed? Were there other drug charges for this man that we don’t know about? And you know the “paraphernalia” was related to methamphetamines? This guy worked for a living. No meth problems. His weight was a good indicator that he wasn’t a meth user. Is there another article with different information?
Well, here’s my input. At first when I read that the thief died, u thought to myself ” damm, if he got taken to hemet valley medical center, I’m sure that’s why he died” witch in fact he was transported to such facility. Upon further reading, I lost pitty for the scumbag. I hate thieves, this deadbeat, mofo thrash is what gives hemet a bad name. To finalize my thoughts, this duchebag was taken out of his misery.
Kiss my ass jerk. He smoked alittle pot which is legal. Had argument with his old lady,had no place to sleep.plain hard times and he got startled from beating on the windows.He was aloving father of four and my Son. So don’t talk out your ass !!
I’m so sorry for your loss. Your son’s were good friends of mine in high school. This is so sad.
He was a good person he worked for my Husband for 5 or 6 years before he went back to be with his family we are sorry for your lose
Sorry for your lost,ma’am I personal didn’t know him but people I know knew him and it’s very hard on them he ll be miss rest in peace
Nice comment. Unfortunately, you are not supposed to be behind the wheel of car when high, especially a stolen one, or flee the police and put others at risk of death. I am sorry for his family, but not for him.
You are a fool and if I find who you are I will teach you a lesson. You are a scumbag and are worse than any “thieve” or “deadbeat” that you speak of. Watch your back Johnny scumbag
Pretty much a case of Darwinism the way I see it. One less insect to infest the gene pool.
Pretty much a case of narcissism the way I see it. One more ignoramus to infest humanity.
Yeah, who would want to live in a world with people like you in it? But, hey, if being ignorant helps you get through your day, by all means, insult dead people that were killed in a situation you know nothing about. You’re so cool.
SAD SITUATION.
Lieing to police or running endangers yourself, it endangers POLICE AND THE INNOCENT PUBLIC.
fck the police
Wow. First of all, drug paraphernalia does NOT ONLY mean meth. IF IT WAS METH, WHY WOULD HE BE SLEEPING!? Anyway, this man…Thief, addict or not was someones brother/father/son/friend. Have some respect for his family.
You can respect the family, but i am sure the family also realizes that what he did is messed up and there is bound to be negativity that surrounds it. He does not deserve pity for what he did because it was wrong, but those around him have the right to mourn the one they lost. There could be a number of reasons he was using drugs, we do not know his situation (NOT AN EXCUSE FOR HIS ACTIONS). our society needs to think before they act.
I am sure they do realize what he did was wrong. I am sure they are pissed at him for what happened. But unfortunately, that’s not how love works; where because someone you love makes a terrible mistake you stop loving them. THAT is why these people deserve respect! They too are victims.
Family means love eachother un conditionally no matter what and people do need to shut the F%$# up already
Have some respect you are right Terri. I wish I could find the people who make comments like this.
I know, but people are too stupid to REALIZE that just because you make a mistake, it doesn’t mean you are unworthy of sympathy. Somehow you are dehumanized and your friends and family ALSO VICTIMS no longer deserve respect and common decency. People make me sick!
Thank you he was my friend
I know.? My heart aches for everyone involved. So sad.
Put divider between east and west bound lanes
Seems like such a simple solution, right?
The divider is a great Idea, As for the comments I feel sorry for all involved mostly the driver of the truck, And really dont defend to hard if u live in this hood you know he was driving a G car that is a Ghetto stolen car everyone drives, And that ya all are known as the crack house, Fact is the task force that came to his accident was probably going to his house or one of the homes related to him. No one should die this way but hay coulda been my family in that truck. So have some sympathy for the guy who was doing nothing wrong but driving on the same road and got hit….
No asshole the task force was after some white trash!! Yall are idiots my parents are family that lives in that neighbor hood and they werent after any of us and to know so much about that neighborhood and that it is mostly all our family that does reside there in green acres sound like your lame ass must have spent alot of time there.. NOTHING WORSE THAN A REFORMED TWEEKER OR ANY REFORMED ADDICT THAT GETS CLEAN AND FORGETS THE F-ING DUMPSTER THEY CRAWLED OUT OF!!! AND MOST OF YALLS ARE JUST UNDERCOVER TWEEKERS NOW…..
I saw the scene right after it happened, the gold car looked like it exploded, I knew that nobody could’ve ever survived that crash. I’m sorry the guy had personal problems but doing what he did was stupid and now HE has caused personal problems for the VICTIMS family. My apologies to the dead mans family but yes, karma is a bitch. The fact that he had problems and was doing drugs gave him NO right to run from the law and cause this horrific crash!
sO BASICALLY UR SAYING U DONT HAVE KARMA COMING OR KARMA NEVER KICKED UR ASS??????
Your negative comment really suck,if you ain’t got nothing nice to say say nothing at all also to the mom of Larry i sorry for your lost may your son rest in peace
In the first place they should of put spikes under the vichicles tires when first approached it you know something like four nails in a flaten aluminum can that way if the person was in distress the car not going any where if there was an officer that could knock on the window then more than likely he could of disable the vehicle with the hand held tire flatern or shot the tires out what do you think love to get some feedback people
This is my cousin you’re calling a drug addict and a “thieve”. You couldn’t be further from the truth. Unless a plant is a “manufactured drug”. We (his family) are horrified this happened. What was described in the report is completely out of character and very hard to believe. He has 4 children, yes, with ONE mother. He was a sweetheart and wouldn’t hurt a fly unless they hurt his family. Not a drug addict. Not a thief. Not a meth user. Not a scumbag. He’s a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a nephew, a cousin, and a true friend. Larry would have never scoffed at an untimely and violent death no matter what the situation, but you guys with your lovely personalities sure are. Talk about karma. Have fun with that.
Thats right larry is my cousin too like i said in a previous comment i baby sat larry and jason as infants i love all my family unconditionally no matter what theyve done or what theyre gonna do and ya KEEP TALKING TRASH PEOPLE CAUSE KARMA WILL BE KNOCING ON ALL YALL’S DOOR!!! AND YOU NEVER KNOW HOW OR WHAT BITCH IS GONNA BRING IT
Mindless ranting and judgment aside hopefully someone in a similar situation will see this that every action has a consequence negative or positive and save your family from heart ache. My prayers to the family of the victim and the victim himself with God walk with God find strength with God find hope with God know no pain with God hold glory with God bask in salvation amen
Thank you for wishing both sides of the families well, there has been so many comments from people talking trash literally stating that he deserved to die in that accident.. There isnt one human out there that is 100 percent perfect, or that has never done wrong or who isnt related to a law breaking or consuming illegal substances.. Hell i myself am a recovering addict and i thank god every day for allowing me to come out of that period of my life, instead of my cousin may he rest in paradise for ever and i pray that his children never read the trash some people wrote.. what happened to respect atleast for larry’s father and mother also his twin brother, his older brother and sister, wife, kids and us the rest of his family its hard on all of us and we would like to grieve, laugh and remember the special person that larry was to each and every one of us.. i use to babysit larry and jason(his twin) almost since birth… we all should live by ” do and say unto others as u would want done to you” Deborah wilson
In my opinion…unless you’ve walked in someone’s shoes…it’s best not to judge. Even then…still may not be a good idea. And if you have all of the Karmic knowledge and the answers to the workings of the Universe…why are you here judging people you don’t even know? Shouldn’t you be saving the planet or doing something miraculous?
Good God we are putting my cuz to rest already why dont all yall people with your
“alligator mouths that are overloading your hummingbird asses” GET A LIFE!!!
Let him rest and his family too!!!! Wish yall would line up for the family and stop hiding behind ur computers
May God bless you and your family. He was loved and will always be loved. God is good and he is with him now. Don’t worry about what other people say. God is the only judge. He is with our Lord.