Last Updated on June 4, 2019 by CCAR Staff
The driver of a pickup moving fast in morning traffic on the 15 Freeway caused a six-vehicle, chain-reaction crash Tuesday that killed a Murrieta woman and sent another pickup off the roadway and into the side of the Temecula City Hall parking building, authorities said.
The pickup’s driver, identified as Javier Caldera, 25, of Auburn, Washington, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, the California Highway Patrol said. He was not injured.
Caldera was arrested on suspicion of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run resulting in property damage, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended or revoked license. He was booked into the Southwest Detention center with a bail of $1 million, and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning.
The wreckage debris closed the southbound lanes of the freeway at Rancho California Road, as well as the road’s on-ramp, for four hours after the 7:25 a.m. crash and caused major traffic jams throughout the area.
A dashcam video posted on YouTube showed the crash, with the truck speeding by and rear-ending the first car in the chain with an impact that looked like an explosion. The comment, “That’s crazy….call 911, man” can be heard from inside the car with the video.
The CHP said early Tuesday that a 44-year-old Murrieta woman, the driver of a Nissan Altima that Caldera’s southbound truck hit first, died after the collision. The Riverside County Coroner’s Office later identified her as Janet Genao.
In the collisions that followed, a 2000 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck flew off the freeway and struck the Temecula City Hall parking building. The driver, a 38-year-old man from Wildomar, was hospitalized with major injuries, the CHP said.
Two others, a 35-year-old man from Brandon, Mississippi driving a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and a 55-year-old man from Irvine in a 2017 Tesla Model S, both had minor injuries. A 50-year-old El Cajon man in a 2017 Toyota Camry escaped being hurt.
Staff writer Robert Gundran contributed to this story.
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