I-215 big-rig crash causes delays, shuts down Metrolink service

MORENO VALLEY — A truck driver was hospitalized with moderate injuries after a collision with a passenger vehicle caused the big-rig to careen off the freeway and overturn onto a set of Metrolink train tracks earlier this morning, Tuesday, Aug. 6. CHP later reported the second vehicle involved in the crash fled the scene and is currently being sought for hit and run.

This morning’s accident happened on Interstate 215 near Harley Knox Blvd. in Moreno Valley, and caused Metrolink to cancel all trains that travel along the 91/Perris Valley route. The crash and subsequent rescue efforts also caused significant delays for morning commuters and others traveling along the 215 Freeway.

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CHP, Cal Fire/Riverside County Firefighters, and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the collision shortly before 6 a.m., Cal Fire and CHP officials later reported.

When officials arrived they found a Bud Light tractor-trailer combo transporting water products that had crashed through a fence adjacent the southbound lanes of I-215 and overturned onto a set of Metrolink train tracks. Rescuers found the delivery truck driver trapped and injured inside the big-rig and performed an extensive cut and rescue operation to free the man.

After being extricated from his semi-truck, the driver was transported by ground ambulance to an area hospital with injuries later described by Cal Fire as moderate.

During their subsequent investigation, CHP determined the big-rig had been headed southbound on the 215 Freeway near Harley Knox Blvd. when it was involved in a collision with another vehicle. Officials have not provided any details regarding the second vehicle, which CHP later said fled the scene of the crash.

The collision caused the tractor-trailer combo to careen from the roadway, where it plowed through a fence and then overturned onto the train tracks, according to CHP.

Because of the extensive work to extricate the injured driver and remove the overturned big-rig from the train tracks, Metrolink cancelled all service for its 91/Perris Valley Line, which travels between downtown Perris and Moreno Valley.

CHP’s investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing and officials have not released any further details.

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he currently writes for or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, the (now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Hemet & San Jacinto 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 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.

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