Girl, 12, hospitalized after 3-vehicle Hemet crash

HEMET — A girl was hospitalized with leg, arm, and back injuries after a “T-Bone” crash in Hemet last night. The Tuesday, Oct. 30 crash, which involved a total of three vehicles, happened at the intersection of Florida Ave. and N. Meridian St.

Eddie George of Hemet Eye News was filming a promotional segment at nearby El Zarape Mexican Restaurant around 7 p.m., when he heard the collision and went to investigate. With cameras still rolling, the community reporter ran a quarter-mile from the restaurant to the intersection, arriving at the chaotic scene before anyone had even exited their wrecked vehicles or called 911 to report the crash.

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The initial broadside impact sent one of the vehicles spinning within the intersection, where both sedans came to rest blocking the westbound lanes of travel. A third vehicle was involved when it plowed into one of the wrecked vehicle’s bumpers and other debris left in the roadway after the first collision.

The T-Bone impact had completely caved in most of the passenger’s side of one of the sedans, leaving the doors inoperable, and good Samaritans who stopped to help at the scene found a crying and distraught 12-year-old girl in the passenger seat.

Before emergency crews were had been dispatched to the area, witnesses carefully helped pull the young victim through the driver’s side of the vehicle.

The shaken, confused, and traumatized girl, was initially unaware she had been involved in a collision and complained of pain to her right arm, leg, and back, and was heard sobbing and saying she wanted to go home. A woman from the same vehicle, believed to be the girl’s mother was uninjured in the crash and was seen trying to calm and comfort the young victim.

At least three people from the two other involved cars were also reportedly uninjured and all involved parties remained at the scene and waited for the arrival of emergency personnel.

CHP, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire, and AMR, were soon dispatched and responded to the scene of the accident and found two wrecked cars and a third with minor damage still in or stopped near the intersection.

The wrecked cars, vehicle parts, and other debris, left both westbound lanes blocked, and other motorists were trying to work their way around the scene before officials arrived and temporarily closed westbound Florida to protect the emergency crews working at the scene.

AMR medics eventually transported the girl to Hemet Valley Hospital for evaluation and further treatment of her minor injuries. Her current status has not been updated and is not known at this time.

Based on witness statements and evidence at the scene, CHP later determined the accident happened when the car with the 12-year-old passenger attempted to make a left turn from Florida onto Meridian but failed to yield to oncoming traffic. Another car that had been traveling on Florida was unable to stop in time and plowed broadside into the passenger’s side of the car, crushing the side of the sedan and injuring the girl.

The third involved vehicle did not hit the first two cars, but could not swerve in time to avoid colliding with vehicle parts and debris that were scattered through the intersection after the initial collision.

Alcohol and drug intoxication were ruled out as contributing factors in the collision. It was not immediately known if CHP issued any citations related to the crash and their investigation is ongoing.

Eddie George/Hemet News video

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

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 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.

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 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.