THERMAL: Woman ejected when pursuit of robbery suspects leads to major-injury wreck

THERMAL — A police pursuit of a vehicle believed to have been involved in a Coachella-area robbery ended when the alleged suspect’s sedan smashed broadside into a commercial pickup truck earlier this afternoon. The major-injury wreck, which resulted in a woman suffering serious injuries after being ejected from the fleeing car, happened Mar. 7, on Airport Boulevard, between Harrison and Tyler Streets, in Thermal.

The incident began before 2 p.m., when deputies assigned to the Coachella Valley Action Team spotted a vehicle possibly connected to a robbery investigation on State Route 86, north of Airport Boulevard, according to sheriff’s officials.

When deputies attempted to conduct an investigatory traffic stop the driver refused to yield and attempted to speed away, at which time officials initiated a vehicle pursuit.

The short chase continued westbound onto Airport Boulevard where the pursued sedan plowed into a white pickup truck near Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport, less than two miles from the Thermal Sheriff’s Station.

According to a CHP live Incident Log, at 2:02 p.m., an aviation crew in CHP’s H60 that had been monitoring the pursuit from overhead advised that the suspect’s vehicle had crashed into two other vehicles and that deputies were involved in the crash, but the log did not specify how the patrol vehicle was involved in the collision. CHP’s log advised that the accident left vehicles scattered across the roadway, blocking lanes of traffic.

Sheriff’s officials have not yet verified how many vehicles were actually involved in the wreck or if any sheriff’s vehicles were involved.

Within moments of the wreck, officials began converging on the scene from all directions. While deputies immediately began assessing and treating the female passenger who was ejected as well as the driver of the pickup who reportedly suffered minor injuries in the collision, other officials detained two other occupants from the pursued car.

At just after 3 p.m., CHP’s Incident Log indicated that the woman ejected from the suspect’s sedan was being transported to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs after a brief stop at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio to deal with airway issues the seriously injured victim was having.

While officials interviewed witnesses and began documenting the accident scene, the wrecked sedan sat in the middle of the roadway and a white pickup truck with a commercial bed attached sat diagonally across the southern dirt shoulder along Airport Boulevard. Numerous marked and unmarked patrol vehicles were stacked up behind the wrecked sedan.

As the investigation continued, officials called for the temporary closure of Airport Boulevard between Harrison and Tyler Streets and officials were expected to be on-scene for the remainder of the evening. Officials eventually established a command area and erected EZ-Ups for shade.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is handling the robbery and pursuit investigation and CHP is conducting the traffic collision investigation. Their investigations are active and ongoing.

Sheriff’s officials have not yet provided any details or information regarding the alleged robbery that reportedly led to the pursuit, but officials were expected to release additional information in a future press release regarding the incident.

This is a developing story that will be updated when more information becomes available.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as 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, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries 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.