Heading to trampoline park, young teens hospitalized after Hemet crash
CORRECTION: One of the juveniles involved in this crash has since been identified as being 11 years-old, not 13 as earlier reported.
-TM
HEMET, Calif. — Three people, including two young teens, were hospitalized after a two-vehicle crash in Hemet yesterday evening, Thursday, April 22. The serious-injury collision happened at the intersection of N. Lyon and Commonwealth avenues.
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City of Hemet Police and Fire personnel were dispatched to the scene of the crash around 6 p.m., official radio traffic at the time indicated.
When officials arrived they found two wrecked vehicles, described as a white SUV and silver Mercury Cougar. The SUV sustained major front-end damage while the sedan sustained side-impact and front-end damage.
Two young teens (both pictured in this photo) and a mother suffered minor to serious injuries after a two-vehicle crash in Hemet yesterday afternoon. Photo submitted to RCNS by family of victim.
Paramedics began evaluating and treating the four occupants involved in the collision before transporting all three victims from the white SUV to an area hospital for further treatment. It was not immediately known if the male driver of the sedan was injured or transported for further evaluation.
Two of those transported were 13-year-old boys, one of whom who suffered a fractured elbow and other traumatic injuries. The more seriously injured of the teens remained hospitalized as of this morning, but was expected to be released from the hospital sometime today.
Evidence at the scene indicated the SUV was traveling northbound on Lyon Avenue approaching Commonwealth Avenue just before the collision, while the Mercury had been traveling westbound on Commonwealth Avenue.
Having the right of way, the SUV continued into the intersection where it was struck by the Mercury, which had been making a left turn onto southbound Lyon Avenue from a posted stop sign.
The impact left the SUV in the middle of the intersection and sent the Mercury careening into several trees and a wall, where it narrowly missed a large tree and concrete light pole.
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One of the 13-year-old occupants from the involved SUV, Levi Cooperman, later told RCNS he was in the back seat with another juvenile and his friend’s mother when the accident occurred.
“We were on Lyon heading to the trampoline park when the car turned left in front us,” the young victim said from the hospital with his parents, where he was continuing to receive treatment.
“At first I didn’t even realize what happened,” Levi described of the crash. “I felt a ringing in my ears and my whole body was numb.”
“Then we started to smell smoke and knew we had to get out,” he continued. “It wasn’t until we got to the hospital that l I started to really feel the pain in my arm.”
“I’m just glad nobody was hurt worse,” the teen said of the accident; adding, “I guess I won’t be going to the trampoline park again any time soon.”
Hemet PD’s investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing and no further details have been released.
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Hemet Crime Society photos
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
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 30 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 18 grandchildren.
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