UPDATE: Victims, 18 & 20, ID’d after fatal SR-60 crash

UPDATED: Monday, Sept. 9, 9:35 p.m., With Coroner’s identification of victims.

BEAUMONT — Officials have identified two people who were killed instantly when a reckless and speeding driver smashed into their vehicle after crashing over a concrete k-rail center median barrier in the Badlands area, between Beaumont and Moreno Valley, last Thursday, Sept. 5.

In the moments before the deadly crash the driver who caused the collision had been seen speeding, weaving through traffic, and illegally passing slower moving motorists along the right shoulder of the roadway, despite driving through a construction zone, CHP has since reported.

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CHP, Cal Fire Riverside County Fire, AMR, and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene of the crash around 1:10 p.m., CHP spokesperson Darren Meyer reported after the fatal collision.

“Officers and emergency crews were delayed getting to the crash location due to the crash effecting both lanes of the 60 Freeway in a section known as the badlands,” CHP had earlier reported on social media.

Although the four-lane highway normally features two lanes in each direction, due to ongoing construction through the area the westbound lanes had been closed to just one lane, further hampering efforts for emergency vehicles to reach the scene of the crash.

The top, driver’s side of a Jaguar was crushed when a Corvette crashed over a concrete k-rail and landed on top of the SUV; killing both the driver and left, rear passenger instantly, according to CHP. CHP photo

When officials arrived they found three vehicles involved in the accident. They were described as a white, 1993 Corvette, a black Jaguar SUV, and an unspecified tractor-trailer big-rig combo.

Officials discovered four victims inside the wrecked Jaguar, which had the driver’s side of the roof crushed and partially ripped from the vehicle. Although the passengers on the right side of the SUV were injured but alive, both the driver and passenger from the driver’s side of the vehicle had already succumbed to their injuries.

According to Meyer, both victims died instantly, having sustained “immediate fatal injuries” in the crash.

Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner officials later identified 18-year-old, Fahad Alogaily, and 20-year-old, Ahmed Alogaily, as the two men killed in the collision. A coroner’s release did not specify where the two men resided, but indicated both men were pronounced deceased at 1:35 p.m.

CHP was not able to immediately say how or if the two men and the other passengers from the vehicle were related.

The two surviving victims, identified only as a male and female, were eventually transported by ambulances to Riverside University Health System Hospital in Moreno Valley with injuries described as non-life threatening.

The driver of the Corvette who caused the deadly crash, later identified as Mitchell Finesod, 55, of Cathedral City, was also injured in the crash and was transported to RUHS for treatment. His unspecified injuries were described as serious, but non-life threatening.

The semi-truck driver was uninjured in the collision, according to Meyer.

CHP officers who investigated last Thursday’s deadly crash determined Mitchell Finesod, 55, of Cathedral City, had been speeding and driving recklessly just before the fatal collision. Witnesses reported that despite being in a construction zone, the man was seen weaving through traffic and illegally passing slower-moving vehicles along the right shoulder of the highway. CHP photo

During their subsequent investigation, CHP determined that just before the crash Finesod had been driving his Corvette westbound on SR-60, about two miles east of Gilman Springs Rd.

According to multiple witnesses, despite traveling through a construction zone Finesod was speeding and driving erratically, and was seen weaving in and out of traffic and passing other vehicles on the right shoulder of the winding mountain highway.

As Finesod sped westbound, “he attempted to pass a big-rig ahead of him; again, using the right shoulder in a reckless manner,” Meyer explained. As he attempted to pass the tractor-trailer combo, the rear of Finesod’s Corvette clipped the front right wheel of the semi.

The impact caused the Corvette to careen out of control and toward the center median k-rail, causing the convertible sports car to go up and over the concrete divider, where it smashed into the top of the eastbound Jaguar.

“This impact caused the male driver and the left rear male passenger in the Jaguar to sustain immediate fatal injuries,” Meyer explained. “After the impact, the Corvette landed back in the westbound lanes,” where it came rest about 100 yards downhill from the Jaguar.

Thursday’s deadly crash, which killed two and injured three others, caused both directions of SR-60 to be closed from I-10 to Gilman Springs Rd. Steve Grasha photo

During their investigation, both directions of SR-60 were closed between Gilman Springs and I-10. The highway remained closed for several hours, until around 4:30 p.m.

The accident and subsequent investigation created a traffic nightmare, with some commuters and area motorists who found themselves trapped behind the wreckage of the collision later reporting delays of up to several hours.

Although Meyer reported Finesod was “in CHP custody,” a jail records search showed nobody with his name had been booked into jail since the collision, and Finesod’s Facebook – which features multiple photos of his Corvette from before the collision – had been updated as recently as two days after the deadly crash.

Contacted for clarification regarding the discrepancy, a CHP representative could provide no explanation or further update.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 48, 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 writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; 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 29 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.