Last Updated on March 19, 2023 by C-CAR
The driver of a car that crashed on the 215 Freeway in Murrieta early Monday, Jan. 16, was arrested after her three passengers died, the California Highway Patrol said.
Alexia Rodriguez, 21, of El Cajon, was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of alcohol. Rodriguez was seriously burned in the single-vehicle crash and was hospitalized at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.
The crash happened just before 4 a.m. on the southbound transition lane to the 15 Freeway during what the CHP described as moderate rain. The 2008 Dodge Charger that Rodriguez was driving went off the road and struck a metal pole, bursting into flames, the CHP said. A male and a female who Officer Mike Lassig said could be in their late teens or early 20s were ejected.
A third passenger, a 15-year-old girl, died inside the car. Rodriguez was able to get out of the car on her own.
The CHP asks that anyone with information on the crash call the Temecula office at 951-506-2000.
