HEMET: Driver injured after smashing into power pole
The truck was left inoperable and had to be towed from the scene after the accident. Gary Rainwater photo
HEMET – A woman was injured when she smashed through a power pole while driving on State Highway 74 near Cordoba Drive in Hemet Sunday, Nov. 6. She was transported to a local hospital after the accident with minor injuries.
Hemet police and fire personnel and AMR medics responded to the collision after passing motorists reported the accident to City of Hemet emergency dispatchers at 10:16 a.m.
Paramedics treated the driver, who has only been identified as an adult female, before she was transported to a hospital for further evaluation and treatment. In spite of the impact, her injuries were described as minor.
Evidence at the scene indicated the driver was travelling westbound when she drifted off the roadway for an unknown reason. After leaving the highway the truck, which was described as a tan Mitsubishi, smashed through a power pole on the side of the road. The truck continued about 120 yards into a dirt field adjacent to the roadway after it crashed through the pole.
The impact left the power pole destroyed and Southern California Edison responded to the scene to replace the damaged pole. Gary Rainwater photo
There were no skid marks leading up to the pole indicating the driver did not apply her brakes prior to the impact. The truck sustained heavy front-end damage in the accident.
The power pole the motorist hit was sheared in half and destroyed in the accident. The collision left the pole dangling at a precarious angle and Southern California Edison personnel were summoned to the location to replace the destroyed pole.
The pole was not expected to be replaced for several hours.
One lane of traffic remained open while paramedics treated the victim and officers conducted an accident investigation, which is ongoing.
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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.