UPDATE: Man who died in alcohol-related golf cart crash at Temecula RV resort ID’d

UPDATED: Saturday, July 28, 6 p.m. With victim’s identification

Writer’s note: Various official reports have indicated this accident either happened at 10:15 p.m. or 10:51 p.m. Requests made to the involved agencies for clarification have not yet been answered. For the purpose of this report, I used the coroner’s listed time of occurrence of 10:15 p.m. -TM

TEMECULA — Officials have identified a man who died after a “modified and lifted” golf cart tumbled down a steep embankment near Vail Lake Resort campground. The private campground is located about five miles east Temecula city limits, heading toward Anza and Aguanga. Another man sustained major injuries in the fatal crash and alcohol intoxication is suspected to be a contributing factor, according to California Highway Patrol.

Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner officials later identified Mauricio Murillo, 38, of Corona, as the man who died after last Thursday night’s accident. A coroner’s release indicated Murillo succumbed to his injuries about an hour after the accident happened and he was pronounced deceased at the scene at 11:14 p.m.

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CHP, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire, and other emergency first responders, were dispatched to the campground on the 38000 block of Highway 79, around 10:15 p.m., after receiving a 911 call reporting the fatal crash.

When officials arrived they found a customized golf cart that had overturned multiple times down a steep embankment. Murillo and another victim, identified only as a 37-year-old Chino man, were found nearby.

Neither men were wearing safety equipment at the time of the crash and both had been ejected as the cart overturned, CHP Officer Harvey Ray reported shortly after the deadly accident.

Murillo died at the scene and the other victim was rushed by ground ambulance to Inland Valley Hospital, according to CHP and Cal Fire officials. His injuries were described as major and he was listed in serious condition. His current medical condition is not known.

During CHP’s initial, on-scene investigation officers determined the two men had been driving the modified golf cart in the resort’s campground area just before the accident.

“For unknown reasons, the driver drove off the paved roadway, through a vacant campsite and off a steep dirt embankment,” Ray explained. “The dirt embankment becomes increasingly steep and uneven as it descends. The golf cart overturned, ejecting … both men.”

The cart landed upside down, on its roof, according to the officer.

Officials have not specified if the two men were staying at Vail Lake Resort or at another nearby campground and CHP is still working to determine which of the two men were driving the golf cart when it tumbled down the embankment.

According to the campground’s website, off-road motorcycles, ATV’s, and side-by-side UTV’s are not allowed within the campground, but golf carts are allowed to be driven by licensed drivers. Although helmets are required for anyone 17-years-old and younger, they are not required to be worn by adults.

Additionally, all golf carts approved for use within the campground are required to stay on “established paved roads,” the resort’s website explains.

CHP’s investigation is ongoing.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta 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. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s 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.