CHP seeks help after rollover ejects 5 in Wildomar, 1 dead, 6 injured

UPDATED: 06/22/2016 2:20 p.m. With new information from CHP

 

California Highway Patrol officials have issued an “Attempt To Identify” bulletin as part of their investigation into a hit and run, rollover, traffic accident that ejected five of seven passengers. The rollover killed one passenger, left another paralyzed and left the other five with various injuries. The driver of the SUV has not been identified.

The vehicle that the hit and run suspect was allegedly driving was identified as a black, 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe, with the California license plate number 6VDP296.

The alleged hit and run driver has been described as a Hispanic male with black hair, weighing approximately 150 pounds, and standing about 5’10”.

CHP officials have released two images obtained from CCTV footage from a convenience store where the alleged suspect stopped just 15 minutes before the fatal crash.

 

ORIGINAL STORY

WILDOMAR – One person was killed when five people were ejected after an SUV was involved in a single-vehicle rollover crash, Saturday, June 18. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene immediately after the fatal accident. All seven passengers sustained injuries ranging from fatal to minor, according to CHP and Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire officials.

The 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe – that was fully loaded with people traveling into the United States from Mexico – came to rest in the Inland Valley Medical Center parking lot, at 36488 Inland Valley Drive, in Wildomar.

There were a total of eight occupants inside the rolled vehicle, according to CHP Officer Oldham. The only person who was wearing a seat-belt was the driver of the vehicle, who fled immediately after the accident. The driver who fled the scene of the fatal rollover has not yet been identified, Oldham wrote in a press release about the tragic accident.

None of the seven passengers inside the rolled vehicle were wearing seat-belts and all sustained various injuries, including one who died at the hospital. Two victims suffered major injuries, two sustained moderate injuries and two received minor injuries.

Of the seven injured patients, four were transported by ground ambulances to Inland Valley Medical Center, two were transported to Loma Linda Hospital and one was transported to Temecula Valley Hospital.

An official release from CHP indicated that at about 3:45 a.m., the SUV was traveling northbound on Interstate 15 south of Clinton Keith Road. The vehicle was in the number two lane being driven at an unknown rate of speed.

“For an unknown reason, the Tahoe left the roadway, traveling on the left dirt shoulder, before traveling back across all lanes of traffic, in a northeasterly direction,” Oldham explained. The Tahoe then “left the roadway a second time, across the right dirt shoulder, and overturned down the dirt embankment.”

As the vehicle was rolling down the embankment, five of the eight occupants from inside the SUV “were ejected onto the dirt embankment,” according to Oldham. “The SUV came to rest facing in a southeasterly direction in the Inland Valley Hospital parking lot.”

One of the passengers who was ejected from the SUV, described only as a 22-year-old male, was transported to the Inland Valley Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by hospital staff. That passenger’’s identification has not been released, pending identification and notification of his family.

Those injured in the accident have been identified as Juan Martinez-Ramirez, 29, Ivan A. Felix Molina, 19, Liliana Navarette, 22, Salvador Soliz, 24, Filiberto C. Sanchez, 21, Mauro Villanuevo, 22. All were listed as residents of Mexico.

CHP officials are investigating the fatal rollover.

Anyone with information regarding this traffic accident or who may have witnessed the fatal rollover is encouraged to contact investigating Officers Oldham or Perez at the California Highway Patrol, Temecula office at (951) 506-2000. Callers can refer to Coroner’s case number 2013-06759 and can remain anonymous.

 

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