Author name: CCAR Staff

POMONA >> Rain may have contributed to a FedEx truck crashing into the center divider of the 60 Freeway on Monday morning in Pomona, completely shutting down the westbound lanes as well as one lane on the eastbound side and sending debris across both sides.

Officials say it was raining around 1:45 a.m. when the tractor trailer struck the divider on the eastbound side of the freeway near Reservoir Street. No major injuries were reported.

The tractor and trailers were removed from the freeway as of 5:30 a.m., but crews continued to work on the damaged divider.

After nearly five hours, crews reopened the westbound lanes of the freeway. But traffic was slow as cars that were backed up for about 10 miles got moving again.

The crash sent commuters scrambling to find alternate routes, which may have led to heavy traffic on the westbound 10 and 210 freeways.

The wet weather also may have contributed to a mudslide early Monday morning that shut down the transition road from the northbound 215 Freeway to the southbound 15 Freeway.

The slide was reported about 4:30 a.m., according to CHP reports.

Crews waited for daylight to assess the situation and clear the roadway, according to CHP reports. Authorities reopened the transition road later that morning.

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas >> The Department of Defense has identified the six American airmen killed when a U.S. Air Force military transport plane crashed in eastern Afghanistan.

The airmen were identified Saturday as: Capt. Jonathan Golden, 33, of Camarillo, California; Capt. Jordan Pierson, 28, of Abilene, Texas; Staff Sgt. Ryan Hammond, 26, of Moundsville, West Virginia; Senior Airman Quinn Johnson-Harris, 21, of Milwaukee; Senior Airman Nathan Sartain, 29, of Pensacola, Florida; and Airman 1st Class Kcey Ruiz, 21, of McDonough, Georgia.

Golden, Pierson, Hammond and Johnson-Harris were based at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. Sartain and Ruiz were based at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

Also killed: five civilian passengers and an unknown number of people on the ground.

The cause of the early Friday crash remains under investigation.

DIAMOND BAR — A motorcyclist died Friday morning on the eastbound 60 Freeway when he hit a curb and was thrown off the motorcycle.

Two eastbound lanes were closed due to the 5:27 a.m. fatal crash which occurred near the Diamond Bar Boulevard.

The California Highway Patrol described the rider as a 49-year-old Hacienda Heights man. His name wasn’t released because his family has not been notified.

CHP Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said the motorcyclist was traveling over 70 mph while eastbound in the car pool lane and approaching the 57 northbound transition road. He said the motorcyclist passed the entrance to the transition road and tried to enter the transition road by leaving the car pool lane .

Jimenez said the Harley Davidson Road King went across all four lanes, entered the right shoulder portion and struck the raised curb that separates the eastbound 60 Freeway and the transition road. The motorcycle went down and the rider was thrown off. Jimenez said the man died at the scene.

The CHP issued a SigAlert for the No. 3 and 4 lanes of the eastbound 60 Freeway at 6:29 a.m. The lanes reopened about three hours later.

POMONA >> Members of the Pomona Police Department are in the area of Fairplex and Arroyo conducting a search for the driver of a car that officers had been pursuing.

Police tried to stop the driver for a Vehicle Code violation in the southern end of the city, said police Lt. Christian Hsu. Instead of stopping the driver sped off.

The chase ended when the driver abandoned the car in the area where the search is taking place.

Police are also trying to determine why the driver tried to flee from officers, Hsu said.

More to come

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former UFC champion Jon “Bones” Jones pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge stemming from a hit-and-run crash in Albuquerque that injured a pregnant woman, saying he took full responsibility for what the judge called a “stupid decision” in the moments following the accident.

Jones’ plea to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury was entered in New Mexico district court. He will avoid jail time and serve up to 18 months of supervised probation under his plea agreement.

Judge Charles Brown also waived a conviction for Jones, meaning he will not have the felony on his record if he meets the terms of his probation. The 28-year-old fighter has been ordered to schedule 72 speaking engagements, one for each week of his probation, at area schools and martial arts centers to explain to youth how bad choices can undo years of hardwork.

Shortly after his arrest, the UFC stripped Jones of his light heavyweight title and suspended him from fighting.

“Ever since he walked away from that car, he’s done everything he can to make amends,” defense attorney Vincent Ward told the judge.

Jones, who trains in Albuquerque, will be allowed to travel to fights and promotional events while on probation.

Citing witnesses, authorities say the crash in April happened when a rental SUV that Jones was driving ran a red light. He then fled the scene, and returned quickly to grab a handful of cash from the vehicle.

The crash sent a woman to the hospital with a broken arm.

Ward said in court Jones had reached out to make amends with the woman, whom the defense attorney said had recovered.

Ward also noted Jones turned himself in to authorities to comply with an arrest warrant after the accident.

Jones (21-1) endured legal problems during much of his championship tenure. In 2012, he was arrested after crashing his Bentley into a telephone pole in Binghamton, N.Y. He had his driver’s license suspended after being charged with DWI. He did no jail time.

Last year, Jones and fighter Daniel Cormier were involved in a brawl in the lobby of the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas while appearing at a promotional event. Jones was fined $50,000 and ordered to do community service by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

After the crash in April, officers found a pipe with marijuana in the SUV as well as MMA documents in Jones’ name, according to a police report.

“I think this has been a huge wake-up call for Mr. Jones,” Ward said.

UFC President Dana White attended the hearing Tuesday and said a decision about Jones’ status with the UFC would come later.

LOS ANGELES >> Paul Walker’s daughter sued Porsche for wrongful death Monday, claiming the sports car that her father was in when he was killed suffered from numerous design defects.

The lawsuit filed by Meadow Rain Walker seeks unspecified damages for defects that her lawyers claim kept the actor trapped in the Porsche Carrera GT when it crashed and burst into flames in November 2013.

• PHOTOS: Actor Paul Walker’s life cut short in tragic Santa Clarita crash

Walker was on a break from filming the seventh film in the “Fast & Furious” franchise when he was killed. He was riding in the Carrera GT driven by friend and business associate Roger Rodas when the car spun out of control, struck three trees and burst into flames on a street in Santa Clarita, California.

The wrongful-death suit claims the car, which was marketed as a street-legal race car, lacked a proper stability control system and safeguards to protect occupants and keep it from catching fire after a collision.

“Absent these defects in the Porsche Carrera GT, Paul Walker would be alive today,” the lawsuit states.

An email sent to representatives of Porsche Cars North America was not immediately returned.

The 18-page lawsuit includes a detailed recounting of the crash and contends that the Porsche was traveling 63 to 71 mph when it spun out of control.

Investigators concluded the Porsche was going much faster — up to 94 mph — when it crashed.

The investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol concluded that it was unsafe speed and not mechanical problems that caused the crash. That investigation was aided by engineers from Porsche, who evaluated the wreckage of the rare car.

Meadow Walker’s lawsuit contends Porsche didn’t include a stability control system in the Carrera GT model Rodas was driving but includes it in other models. It also claims the car lacked proper reinforcements in its doors and used rubber fuel lines that didn’t break free to prevent a fire in a crash.

Similar allegations of design and safety defects were included in a wrongful death lawsuit by Rodas’ widow, Kristine Rodas, that remains pending in a federal court in Los Angeles. Rodas was trained as a race car driver and was only driving 55 mph, according to his wife’s lawsuit. He left behind two young children when he died.

Walker, the star of the “Fast & Furious” film franchise, co-owned an auto racing team with Rodas named Always Evolving. Meadow Walker, 16, is the sole heir of his estate.

Walker’s two brothers helped complete action scenes in “Furious 7,” which earned more than $1.5 billion globally after it was released in April.

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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This story has been corrected to show the title of the latest film is “Furious 7” not “Fast & Furious 7.”

LOS ANGELES >> A Los Angeles area assemblyman said a bill signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown to create a public alert system aimed at tracking down hit-and-run drivers will make streets safer statewide.

AB 8 calls for “yellow alerts” showing details about a fleeing vehicle — such as color, make, model and license plate number — to be displayed on digital freeway and street signs. Such alerts are already used during kidnappings.

“We’re just ecstatic,” Assemblyman Mike Gatto told City News Service Monday afternoon, about 10 minutes after receiving the news from the governor’s staff.

“This will make our streets much more safe, will help a lot of grieving families get justice,” he said.

Gatto held a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall earlier Monday to urge Brown to “do the right thing” and sign the bill, which is set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Brown vetoed a similar bill last year, explaining to Gatto that he had concerns it would overburden the existing alert system. The governor had until Oct. 11 to decide whether to sign or veto the latest bill.

“I don’t think the system is too burdened,” Gatto said Monday, noting that freeway signs are being used to urge drivers statewide to conserve water amid an historic drought.

“We shouldn’t have to put up $50,000 rewards to try to catch somebody. We shouldn’t have to flier our neighborhoods,” Gatto said. “We should give law enforcement tools to try to catch somebody by crowdsourcing it, if you will.”

Gatto added his bill is “narrowly tailored” to ensure alerts are only sent out in areas near where the incidents occur and only if the collision resulted in serious injury or death.

Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Tamika Butler, who joined Gatto in urging Brown to sign the bill, said 150 people die each year due to hit-and-runs.

She noted a fatal hit-and-run in Highland Park earlier this month. Butler said she was eating dinner with friends in the area when she heard a crash, then saw a driver flee the scene.

The victim, Yolanda Lugo, died about a week later, while “we are still looking for the perpetrator of this crime,” Butler said. “The Assembly member is doing his part and now, we just ask the governor, please sign the bill and show all vulnerable users of the streets that the streets also belong to them.”

The Los Angeles City Council earlier this year approved standing rewards ranging from $1,000 to $50,000 aimed at generating leads to capture drivers who flee traffic collisions rather than stop to potentially render aid.

Facebook and Instagram went down Monday afternoon for the second time in less than a week. Left without an alternative, people took to Twitter to share their frustration and feign concern.

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FONTANA >> Fontana police are still investigating the cause of a fatal traffic collision that killed a San Bernardino motorcyclist last week.

The unidentified 42-year-old rider died Thursday evening following the crash at Sierra and Summit avenues, according to a police report.

Just before 6 p.m. Thursday, police say the man was riding his 2014 black Harley Davidson motorcycle north on Sierra Avenue toward Summit Avenue. At the same time, a 79 year-old Rialto man driving a 1999 red Dodge Durango was stopped at the red light in the southbound left turn lane of Sierra Avenue to go east onto Summit Avenue.

When the driver of the Durango began to make the left turn, he was struck by the driver of the motorcycle in the intersection. The impact tossed the rider onto the asphalt.

Paramedics took the injured rider to a hospital where he later died. The driver of the Durango was not injured.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fontana Police Department at 909-350-7740.