HEMET: Car smashes head-on into concrete light pole after two-vehicle crash
HEMET – Two drivers sustained minor injuries and a concrete power pole was sent crashing down into a backyard after a two-vehicle traffic collision Tuesday, April 18. The minor-injury accident occurred at the intersection of W. Devonshire and N. Lyon Avenues in Hemet.
Fire officials survey the damage to one of the two vehicles involved in the wreck. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
Hemet Police and Fire personnel and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the accident shortly before noon, after several other motorists, witnesses and nearby neighbors called 911 to report the accident.
According to callers, one vehicle, described as a silver Chrysler Sebring, had struck a gold Toyota Venza broadside near the middle of the four-way stop intersection. It was not immediately known which of the two drivers caused the collision.
The impact of the two vehicles sent the Toyota careening over a curb where it smashed head-on into a concrete light pole. The impact shattered the base of the concrete pole and knocked the pole down.
As the 25 foot tall pole came crashing down, it smashed through a residential fence and landed in a nearby backyard.
A 25-foot tall concrete traffic pole smashed through a residential fence and landed in a private backyard. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
Callers could not immediately say if anyone was home or injured at the residence where the concrete light pole crashed into.
When fire and police officials arrived at the scene of the crash, they located the two wrecked vehicles. Both had sustained moderate damage and neither was left in drive-able condition.
American medical Response medics evaluated and treated both drivers at the scene. Both declined further medical treatment.
Officials summoned Southern California Edison employees to the scene to assess the damaged light pole and replace it. Edison personnel arrived just under an hour after the accident was reported.
Although officials quickly cleared the damaged cars, vehicle parts and debris from the roadway to allow for traffic to flow through the intersection, the northwest corner of the intersection where the light pole was knocked down remained cordoned off with caution tape.
Hemet police officers are investigating the cause of the collision.
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Trevor Montgomery runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News and Anza Valley Outlook and also writes for Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.
Trevor 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 and breaking his back in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with 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 and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
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.