Last Updated on March 8, 2018 by CCAR Staff
A Menifee man was one of five people killed in the fiery collision last month on the 10 Freeway in Rialto, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP on Wednesday released the name of Jerry D. Thomsen, 59, who along with Twentynine Palms resident Duddley White, 73, was killed in the Feb. 16 crash.
The deadly collision occurred when Michael R. Coley, 43, of Riverside, was driving a 2015 Mack Industries cement pumper truck west on the freeway. He was approaching Riverside Avenue when, for reasons still under investigation, Coley veered across the westbound lanes in the truck, crashing through the center wood and metal guardrail and onto the eastbound side of the freeway. He collided with multiple vehicles, creating a traffic snarl that forced the closure of both sides of the freeway for nearly a day and prompting motorists to detour around the accident scene. Traffic backed up for miles.
The other three people who died in the crash have yet to be identified.
Sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Lacy, who oversees the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Department, said in an email that the department was unable to positively identify the victims via fingerprints, so it is now trying to identify them through dental records. If that fails, the department will exercise its third option: identification through DNA samples.
Coley, the driver of the Mack cement truck, suffered moderate injuries in the accident and was treated at a hospital.
Heliodoro Garcia, 59, of San Fernando, the driver of a 1995 International Dump Truck that was also involved in the collision, declined medical attention at the scene, the CHP reported.
The CHP’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigations Team (MAIT) continues to investigate, looking into whether mechanical failure, human error, environmental factors such as weather and road conditions, or a combination of any or all three, factored into the accident, Officer Steve Carapia said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
“Due to the severity of the incident, it will probably take months to complete,” Scarapia said of the investigation.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or may have additional information is asked to contact the San Bernardino CHP at: 909-383-4247.
