Southern California

CLAREMONT >> A motorcyclist was killed Wednesday in a crash involving at least one other vehicle on the 10 Freeway.

The crash was reported about 5:50 p.m. on the eastbound side of the freeway at Indian Hill Boulevard, said California Highway Patrol Officer Monica Posada.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, she said.

The eastbound carpool and left lanes were closed and a SigAlert was issued, according to the CHP.

SAN BERNARDINO >> Two people were injured in a multi-vehicle crash that snarled traffic on the westbound 10 Freeway just east of Tippecanoe Avenue.

Two hours after the crash about 4:45 p.m., most of the lanes of the 10 Freeway were opened after the a crash that involved several vehicles and a large truck, authorities said.

A big rig ended up in the ditch off the 10 after colliding into several of the cars, according to the CHP.

• Photos: Accident on 10 Freeway in San Bernardino

For a time, traffic was backed up deep into Redlands, beyond Tennessee Street as fire and hazardous materials crews tended to the injured and worked to stop a small fuel leak from the big rig, which ended up on its right side in the ditch, said San Bernardino City Fire Batallion Chief Bob Evans.

About 30 gallons of fuel was leaked, Evans said.

• Video: CHP officer discusses 10 Freeway crash

Drivers were making U-turns in the center of the freeway, and driving onto onramps after traffic had come to a dead stop.

All lanes had been closed at around 5 p.m., but an hour later, three lanes had been opened, and by 6:40 p.m., traffic was moving at a slow clip through the Tippecanoe area.

Evans said two people — one including the driver of the big rig — were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

The crash happened near the spot where back in July a Greyhound passenger bus left the freeway, just shy of the Waterman Avenue exit, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Grady Stevens. No one was seriously injured after the bus crossed into the right shoulder, hopped a small gravel curb, descended a seven-foot hill, crashed through a chain-link fence, dropped another two feet and stopped on the upslope of a dirt hill behind a shopping center.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

SAN DIEGO >> Two small planes collided midair while approaching an airport in southern San Diego County on Sunday, killing at least four people and sparking brush fires in a remote field where the wreckage landed, authorities said.

The collision occurred around 11 a.m. about 2 miles northeast of Brown Field Municipal Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

Both planes — a twin-engine Sabreliner jet and a single-engine Cessna 172 — were approaching Brown Field, Gregor said.

The aircraft caught fire when they hit the ground and broke apart, said Nick Schuler, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“It appears it was a very violent crash, as you can tell by both aircraft being in multiple pieces,” Schuler said.

First responders initially reported three fatalities, but as they inspected the wreckage which was strewn across a quarter-mile area, they determined that at least four people were killed, he said.

The Sabreliner crashed on a grassy slope and the Cessna fell within the bounds of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.

Crews extinguished several brush fires where the planes came down. One firefighter was taken to the hospital after he suffered a heat-related injury, Schuler said.

Brown Field, a former Naval auxiliary air station, is in the Otay Mesa area about 15 miles southeast of downtown San Diego, near the border with Mexico.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, Gregor said.

BROOKLYN, Mich. >> This was exactly the kind of scenario Kyle Busch needs to avoid.

Busch slid onto the grass after coming through a turn during NASCAR Sprint Cup practice Saturday, damaging his No. 18 Toyota. He returned to the track in a backup car, but he now faces the prospect of having to start from the back Sunday in the 400-mile, 200-lap race at Michigan International Speedway.

“I was just running along, everything was fine and I was actually feeling pretty good about it,” Busch said. “Just started to get a little free up off of (turn) four.”

Busch has won four times this year, but he’s only 30th in points because he missed 11 races after breaking his right leg and left foot in February. He needs to be in the top 30 at the end of the regular season to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and right now he’s six points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt.

In other words, he needs to avoid major mistakes during these last four races of the regular season. Busch was sixth in qualifying Friday, but going to the backup car will force him to start from the back in Sunday’s race.

“If top 20 is it, then that’s it,” Busch said. “Michigan is not a place that I had circled on the list to go win at, so let’s just make it through (Sunday) and carry on.”

The day wasn’t a total loss for Busch. He won the Truck Series race at MIS shortly after wrecking his Cup car.

There was damage to the front of Busch’s car after he went onto the grass. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has said in the past he thinks there’s no reason to have grass near racing surfaces, and he addressed the issue again Saturday — with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

“I think at all these racetracks we need more grass — I think more grass would be beneficial,” Busch said. “I think we should have more grass and it should be taller.”

Here are a few more things to watch in Sunday’s race:

RULES PACKAGE

Drivers are dealing with a high-drag rules package for this race, and there’s been a lot of uncertainty over how the cars will handle in traffic. Now Busch will have a lot of cars to pass as he tries to improve his position.

“We just learned about how the draft was and what kind of instances you could try to put yourself in and what kind of instances you didn’t want to be in,” Busch said. “Now that we have to start in the back, it’s a good thing we did that. It’s a good exercise and we’ll just have to adjust our car for being in the back of the field.”

This rules package was also used at Indianapolis last month and drew criticism, but there’s some hope that it will work better at Michigan’s wider, faster track. This week, NASCAR mandated a dual outlet duct be used on the right-side window to help with ventilation and keep the cockpit from being too hot for the drivers.

DILLON’S PROBLEM: Busch wasn’t the only solid qualifier who had a problem in practice Saturday. Austin Dillon, who qualified fourth, had an engine issue toward the end of practice.

“We think it is something to do with fueling,” Dillon said. “We will see if it is a fueling issue. If not, if it’s a bigger issue, we will change the motor for Sunday.”

GIBBS ON A ROLL: Busch’s crash was a rare misstep lately for Joe Gibbs Racing, which swept the top three spots in qualifying Friday. Matt Kenseth took the pole, followed by Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.

DOWN TO THE WIRE: Jeff Gordon has had decidedly mixed results so far in his farewell season. The retiring star has no wins and is 12th in the standings. A faulty brake line led to a 41st-place finish last weekend at Watkins Glen. He was third at Pocono the previous weekend, but the week before that he finished 42nd at Indianapolis.

Gordon is one of several big-name drivers still without a win with four races remaining before the Chase. Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle are among the others.

BETTER WEATHER: Kurt Busch won the June race at Michigan, but it was shortened because of rain. The forecast is for a sunny day Sunday with temperatures in the 80s.

UPLAND >> On what would have been Courtney Ferranto’s 23rd birthday, her parents, family and friends gathered Friday afternoon and released dozens of balloons in her memory.

Ferranto was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by a drunken driver on Aug. 9 in Corona and was taken off life support this week.

The family agreed to donate Ferranto’s organs, releasing the balloons at 3 p.m., which was when the surgery occurred.

The group shouted, “we love you Courtney,” as the colorful balloons faded into the afternoon blue sky. The group then broke into a solemn rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

“Courtney will always be in our hearts and the gift of life she is giving will be such a blessing,” said her father, Santo Ferranto.

Many in the crowd wore Courtney Ferranto’s favorite color, teal, as well as released 23 balloons in the same color. The rest of the balloons were purple, her other favorite color.

The family has said it will establish in her honor “Courtney’s Gift,” a foundation meant to prevent drunken driving.

The balloon release was held outside her father’s home in Upland.

“Courtney was a tremendous gift to all her family and friends. Such a life, such a powerful joy, cannot be bound or restrained, even by this terrible loss,” said Councilwoman Debbie Stone, reading a statement from the family.

Santo Ferranto and his wife, Dori, along with Courtney’s mother Belinda Gibson and her husband, Larry Gibson, thanked those in attendance for their “overwhelming love and support” since Sunday’s accident.

Santo and Dori Ferranto are members of the Upland Chamber of Commerce, which organized the gathering.

Inside the Ferranto’s Upland home, the family room floor was lined with flower bouquets, each containing handwritten condolences.

“She was quiet in nature but she was big in life,’ her father said. “She just attracted people in by who she was.”

Santo Ferranto was poised as he remembered his daughter but there were subtle hints he was still coming to terms with the loss of his daughter.

“She was – she is a beautiful girl,” he said.

At least twice he urged that people not drink and drive.

“I hate to see other families going through what we’re going through,” he said.

Corona Police Department said the accident occurred Aug. 9 shortly after 9:20 p.m. in the intersection of Promenade Avenue and Sixth Street. The driver of a Nissan Maxima broadsided the front passenger side door of the grey Mazada 3 driven by Courtney Ferranto’s boyfriend, Jacob George. Courtney Ferranto was the passenger and sustained serious injuries. She was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, according to Corona Police.

Eduardo Alvarez, 25, of Corona was arrested at the scene for suspicion of driving under the influence, police said. According to Santo Ferranto, his daughter had just gotten home from the beauty store Sephora in Victoria Gardens where she was a makeup artist.

“She just loved doing it, she loved her job,” he said, adding that his daughter had aspirations to work as a makeup artist in the entertainment industry.

His daughter convinced her boyfriend to grab some ice cream and the couple were on their way to Sonics when the collision occurred, Santo Ferranto said.

“Once we knew she wasn’t coming back we wanted to make sure other families would be able to celebrate,” he said about the organ donation.

Funeral services are pending.

An Uber driver robbed at gunpoint in Hermosa Beach followed the gunman’s getaway car and pointed it out to a sheriff’s deputy, who arrested three suspects, police said Friday.

The crime occurred about 1:20 a.m. Thursday as the Uber driver stood next to his car talking on his smartphone in the Vons parking lot at 710 Pier Ave., police said.

A man approached him, pointed a gun at him and demanded the phone. The driver complied, and watched the man get into a car occupied by two other people.

The victim followed the car into Lawndale and flagged down a sheriff’s deputy, who pulled the car over and arrested two men and a woman. A fake handgun and the victim’s cellphone were recovered.

Arrested on suspicion of robbery were Anthony Mateo, 19, of Los Angeles; Alexis Stewart, 19, of Los Angeles; and Dwaun Jennings, 18, of Pomona.

Each was held on $100,000 bail.

— Larry Altman

RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> A man pleaded not guilty to murder charges after investigators determined he was allegedly drunk when he crashed his motorcycle, killing his friend.

Brian Salsbury, 25, of Murrieta, was in West Valley Superior Court, in Rancho Cucamonga, Wednesday to face charges of murder, driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter stemming from May’s fatal crash that killed William Arko, 35, of Colton.

The crash was reported around 3:25 p.m. May 23 in the 7800 block of Elm Avenue, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials at the Rancho Cucamonga station.

According to investigators, the men were both riding a motorcycle south on Elm Avenue, near De Anza, when they ran into a parked car. Both men were tossed off the motorcycle. Arko was killed, and Salsbury was injured.

A criminal complaint identified Salsbury as the driver of the motorcycle that afternoon.

Court documents show the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Salsbury on July 22. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 24.

Salsbury is being held on $1 million bail at West Valley Detention Center, in Rancho Cucamonga.

A multi-vehicle crash in the Cajon Pass snarled traffic for Monday morning commuters.

Just before 5 a.m., the California Highway Patrol received several calls of a crash involving up to five vehicles on the southbound 15 Freeway north of Kenwood Avenue which blocked several lanes of the roadway, according to the CHP incident log.

There were several other smaller crashes reported after the first and caused a back-up for several miles nearly to Highway 138, according to reports. No serious injuries were reported.

Although most of the lanes of traffic were cleared by 6 a.m., heavy slowing on the southbound lanes continued for some time.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Aldon Smith released by San Francisco 49ers after latest arrest.