Last Updated on July 16, 2018 by CCAR Staff
A Moreno Valley man died when a wrong-way driver on the 60 Freeway in Riverside struck the mini-van he was riding in head-on in the fast lane early Sunday, the California Highway Patrol reported Monday.
Shanilka Mapatuna, 23, was identified Monday afternoon by the Riverside County Coroner as the man who died in the collision.
A 19-year-old woman from Ontario who was identified as the driver of the 2002 Ford Mustang that sped westbound in the eastbound lanes of the freeway, and a Fontana man, 23, who was the driver of the van her car struck, both suffered major injuries and are hospitalized, the CHP said. Their names have not been released.
Calls to the CHP began at 3:31 a.m. Sunday when motorists saw the Mustang heading the wrong way on the freeway starting at Frederick Street in Moreno Valley.
Three Riverside-based CHP units responded, but six minutes later the crash was reported on the eastbound freeway, east of Orange Street in Riverside, the CHP said.
The 2016 Dodge Caravan and the Ford Mustang were both in the No. 1, or fast lane, when the Mustang, moving “at a high rate of speed” hit the van head-on.
The Dodge hit the center divider wall while the Mustang went across the roadway before it stopped, blocking the eastbound 60 Freeway Main Street on ramp from Riverside.
Mapatuna, a passenger in the Dodge, died at the scene.
The accident remained under investigation Monday. Anyone with information regarding it is asked to call the Riverside California Highway Patrol Accident Investigation Unit at 951-637-8000.
