AZ man, 63, killed while off-roading near Anza

ANZA, Calif. — A 63-year-old Arizona man was killed while off-roading on an unmaintained dirt trail, south of the unincorporated community of Anza, Saturday afternoon, May 16, according to officials now investigating the cause of the fatal accident.

The deadly, solo-vehicle crash, which happened west of Cooper Cienega Truck Trail, in a remote and hard-to-reach area near the Riverside-San Diego County line, was just one of several deadly accidents handled by CHP San Gorgonio Pass Area officers over the weekend.

Those fatalities, along with a slew of other fatal and major injury accidents to occur throughout the San Jacinto valley and surrounding communities over the preceding week prompted CHP to issue a special release earlier today, imploring area residents to use common sense while off-roading and to obey all the rules of the road.

SEE RELATED:

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CHP, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and other emergency personnel were alerted to Saturday’s deadly crash around 1 p.m., CHP Public Information Officer MattNapier has since reported.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter that responded to the scene eventually made access to the downed dirt bike rider and determined the man had already succumbed to his injuries and passed away at the scene, according to Napier.

The victim has since identified as John Anthony Jardin, 63, of Sun City, AZ.

Aviation members eventually hoisted the deceased victim to a safer location, where San Diego County coroner officials took custody of the victim’s body – due to the victim being located across the Riverside-San Diego county line.

Officials investigating the deadly accident determined Jardin was driving a 2005 Husqvarna motorcycle with a group of friends when he lost control of his motorcycle and was thrown from the vehicle as it overturned.

CHP’s investigation into the crash is ongoing.

The other fatal accidents to occur over the weekend left two men dead and another with major injuries, according to Napier.

One of the accidents involved a man who was killed and his brother who was seriously injured, after the deceased victim lost control of a side-by-side UTV and plummeted 300 feet down a steep and rocky mountainside while off-roading in Bee Canyon east of Hemet. 

The other deadly crash was a fiery wreck involving a pickup truck that slammed head-on into a semi-truck while traveling on Gilman Springs Rd. later the same evening. The initial collision led to a chain of other crashes that involved three additional vehicles.


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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.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The San Diego County Coroner was requested because the person died across the county line in San Diego County, fire officials said.