UPDATE: Hemet woman, 60, ID’d after deadly crash involving mobility chair

March 5, 2020 Trevor Montgomery

UPDATED: Thursday, March 5, 10:15 a.m., With Coroner’s release of information.

HEMET — Officials are investigating after a woman operating a motorized mobility wheelchair was fatally struck while traveling on a Hemet street Monday afternoon, March 2. The deadly accident happened at the intersection of W. Mayberry Ave. and S. Palm Ave.

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City of Hemet Police and Fire personnel were first alerted to the crash about 3:37 p.m., when the Hemet Police Dispatch Center began receiving calls about a traffic collision involving a lifted, white pick-up truck and an electric mobility chair, Hemet Police Lt. Eric Dickson later reported.

Official radio traffic at the time indicated 911 callers reported the wheelchair had been heavily damaged in the collision and that a woman who had been operating the wheelchair was still down in the roadway and unable to get up.

When officials arrived they found a chaotic scene, with the victim’s destroyed wheelchair in pieces within the intersection and the victim’s recently purchased fast food, oxygen tank and other belongings scattered across the roadway just south of the intersection.

The woman was still down in the roadway about ten feet from her wheelchair and numerous witnesses and good Samaritans were trying to provide her aid and comfort, while other citizens helped direct traffic away from the scene of the accident.

The visibly traumatized driver of the pickup truck that struck the victim was also found at the scene and was fully cooperative with officers, according to Dickson.

Paramedics immediately began evaluating and treating the operator of the wheelchair, who was alert and talking after the accident but in visible pain and distress. She was rushed by ground ambulance to Inland Valley Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries early the next morning and passed away.

Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner officials have since identified Kathryn Hann, 60, of Hemet, as the woman killed in the collision. A coroner’s release indicated Hann was pronounced deceased at 1:04 a.m., March 3.

During their preliminary on-scene investigation, officers interviewed the driver and several witnesses and determined that just before the accident Hann had been traveling eastbound on Mayberry when she came to Palm and stopped for the posted stop sign.

At the same time the driver of the pickup had been driving west on Mayberry approaching Palm.

As Hann continued eastbound across Palm, the driver of the truck, who later told officers she did not see the mobility chair, made a left turn to go south on Palm and crashed into Hann and her scooter. The truck was traveling about 10 to 15 mph when the collision happened, according to Dickson.

The intersection where the deadly accident happened did not have any crosswalks.

Investigators do not believe that alcohol or drugs played a role in this collision, but Hemet PD’s investigation is continuing.

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Gary Rainwater/Public Safety Incidents photos

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Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 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 16 grandchildren.