COLTON: Hemet resident killed while driving wrong way on I-215
COLTON – Coroner officials have identified a Hemet resident who was killed while reportedly driving the wrong direction on Interstate 215 Freeway in Colton, Friday, March 3. The deadly accident happened on southbound Interstate 215 near Barton and Iowa Roads, according to CHP and San Bernardino County Coroner officials.
The man was later identified by coroner officials as 28-year-old Joey Hernandez.
California Highway Patrol officials were first notified regarding a person driving the wrong way on the freeway about 8:40 p.m. Callers told dispatchers the vehicle, described as a 2005 Honda Accord, was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of traffic.
About four minutes later, at 8:44 p.m., CHP dispatchers began to receive calls reporting that the wrong-way driver had smashed into another vehicle that had been traveling southbound on Interstate 215.
Firefighter/paramedics located the wrong-way driver, later identified as Hernandez, trapped inside the mangled wreckage of his car. Medics eventually transported him to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by hospital staff about 11:25 p.m.
No information was immediately available regarding the condition of the occupants from the second vehicle.
Officials have not yet determined if blood or alcohol intoxication were contributing factors in the deadly crash, pending toxicology reports.
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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.