Last Updated on May 6, 2020 by CCAR Staff
A 17-year-old passenger died and her 18-year-old driver — fleeing a hit-and-run — was arrested after a rollover crash on Gilman Springs Road in Moreno Valley on Monday, May 4, the California Highway Patrol said.
Catalina Esteves of Calimesa died at Riverside University Health System Medical Center at 11:53 a.m., 45 minutes after the wreck about a quarter-mile east of Kevin Street, the Riverside County Coroner’s Office said.
Jose Angel Perez of Lomita was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe on the 60 Freeway through the Badlands when he was involved in a minor collision, CHP Officer Matt Napier said. Perez didn’t stop, Napier said. Instead, he exited the freeway at Gilman Springs Road and drove east at a high rate of speed, witnesses told the CHP.
Perez then lost control of the Tahoe. He first went off the road to the right, overcorrected to the left and then spun out to the right. The Tahoe rolled over several times, ejecting Esteves and a second passenger, 18-year-old Christopher Sanchez of Fontana. The CHP is investigating whether the passengers were wearing seat belts, Napier said.
Perez was determined to be under the influence of marijuana, Napier said. Perez was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, gross vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving causing injury or death. He was booked into Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where he was being held in lieu of $75,000 bail.
