SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A 20-year-old man determined to have been driving under the influence of alcohol killed a 25-year-old woman while speeding on February 12 on Interstate 5 through San Clemente.
California Highway Patrol and firefighters were dispatched to reports of a crash around 2 a.m. on Sunday, February 12.
An investigation conducted by CHP revealed a 20-year-old man from El Cajon, California, was driving a 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck at a "high rate of speed" on southbound Interstate 5 near Camino de Estrella in San Clemente, California, when the crash occurred.
CHP said the 20-year-old man lost control of his truck and overturned when two of the truck's wheels flew across southbound lanes into northbound lanes of Interstate 5 and struck a 2019 Toyota Prius driven by a 66-year-old man from Irvine, California.
Another car, a 2021 Prius driven by a 28-year-old man from Vista, California, hit the overturned truck driven by the initial 20-year-old man who was held responsible for the events, CHP said.
Before crews could get the scene under control and cleaned up, another car collided with the newly created hazardous scene in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5, initially caused by the suspect's tires flying across the freeway lanes from the southbound to the northbound side.
CHP said the woman who struck the newly created hazardous scene in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 wasn't wearing her seatbelt when her 2016 Honda Civic crashed, causing her to be partially ejected from her sedan. She suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
The victim who died as a result of the crash was identified only as a 25-year-old woman from Ontario, California.
"The 20-year-old man driving the Ford Ranger in the initial crash sustained major injuries and was determined to have been under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the crash and was arrested," officers said in a press release.
California Highway Patrol asked anyone with information regarding the incident to call the California Highway Patrol Capistrano area at (949) 670-7030.
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