MENIFEE: Double rollover on I-215 slows traffic to a crawl
Numerous emergency first responders rushed to the scene of the double rollover. Joe Fanaselle photo
MENIFEE – A double vehicle rollover left two vehicles badly damaged but resulted in only minor injuries and complaints of pain Sunday, Oct. 9. The accident happened just before 4:00 p.m. along the southbound lanes of the Interstate 215 Freeway, south of Scott Road and Bonnies Way.
Two vehicles, including a black Chevrolet pickup truck and a silver Chevrolet sedan, were involved in the violent, double rollover collision.
For an unknown reason, the car and the truck both left the right side of the freeway and ended up overturning – possibly several times – along the dirt shoulder. The pickup ended up about 100 feet from the roadway and came to rest on its roof, while the sedan landed on its wheels on top of a barrier fence that separates the freeway from adjacent properties.
According to CHP officials at the scene, the driver and sole-occupant of the pickup truck had a minor lower-leg injury, which he described as the worst injury of the incident. It was not immediately known how many occupants were inside the sedan.
Both destroyed vehicles are seen after the double rollover accident. Joe Fanaselle photo
Officers investigated the accident while firefighters and AMR medics evaluated the victims and tended to their minor injuries.
The accident caused traffic to back up for more than a mile as evening commuters slowly made their way past the accident scene.
The truck was eventually righted back onto it’s wheels and the two wrecked vehicles were towed from the scene of the accident.
California Highway Patrol officers are conducting an investigation into the cause of this collision. It had not yet been determined if alcohol or drug intoxication were contributing factors in the accident.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.
This is my sons truck. He is a very lucky man. Broken leg. The young woman is not hurt last we heard… hopefully still no worries… Very lucky too…
Colleen, I am very glad to hear your son and the other driver made it out as good as they did. That accident could have been so much worse. I pray for your son’s speedy recovery.
-TM