DUI suspected after Menifee head-on collision

MENIFEE, Calif., — Authorities suspect driving under the influence may have caused a two-vehicle major injury traffic collision in Menifee Saturday evening, Oct. 2. The head-on collision, which left one driver hospitalized with severe injuries, happened in the area of Bundy Canyon, west of Murrieta Road, according to officials.

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City of Menifee police officers, along with Cal Fire-Riverside and AMR, were dispatched to the scene around 9:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a major injury traffic collision with possible entrapment, Menifee Police Sergeant Matthew Bloch has since reported.

When officials arrived they found two vehicles, described as a a 2007 GMC Sierra and 2013 Chevrolet Suburban and confirmed the occupant of the GMC was trapped inside their wrecked pickup truck.

Firefighters managed to extricate the driver and sole occupant of the pickup and that person was rushed to an area hospital by ground ambulance with severe injuries, but the driver was expected to survive, according to Bloch.

The occupants of the Chevrolet were uninjured and were cooperative with Menifee PD’s subsequent investigation.

Traffic Unit officers later determined that just before the collision the GMC was being driven eastbound on Bundy Canyon, while the Chevrolet was traveling westbound.

For reasons still under investigation, the GMC pickup swerved into the wrong lane of travel directly into the path of the oncoming Suburban and a head-on collision occurred between the two vehicles. The impact sent the GMC careening into a nearby ditch, while the Chevrolet came to a stop and awaited emergency services.

The cause of this collision is still under investigation; however, intoxication is believed to be a factor, said Bloch.

The collision and subsequent cleanup caused Bundy Canyon to the closed for about six hours and the roadway has since been reopened.

Anyone with additional information regarding the collision is asked to contact the Menifee PD Traffic Unit at (951) 723-
1690 or (951) 723-1565.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, 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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