Last Updated on September 27, 2018 by CCAR Staff
A passenger was killed and the driver was arrested after a vehicle crashed into a pole and caught fire on the westbound 60 Freeway in Ontario early Thursday, Sept. 27, the California Highway Patrol said.
The name of the person who died had not been released as of 5 p.m. Thursday.
A few minutes after midnight, Pedro Richard Montez of Colton was driving a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox east of Haven Avenue at an unknown speed, CHP Officer Jesus Garcia said. The Equinox crashed into the center divider and then an exit sign post on the right shoulder.
The SUV burst into flames, and a passing motorist helped Montez out. But other passersby and firefighters were not able to rescue the passenger.
Montez was checked out at a hospital and then arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or more while causing injury, San Bernardino County jail records show.
Montez, 30, was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where bail was set at $250,000.
The crash and subsequent investigation led to a closure of some of the westbound lanes of the freeway, CHP officials said. All lanes reopened around 3 a.m.
