LAKESIDE (CNS) - A head-on collision near the Barona Casino Tuesday severely injured two Ramona men, including an off-duty San Diego police officer, and left a woman less seriously hurt.
The crash occurred shortly after 10 a.m., when the 30-year-old driver of a 2005 Nissan 350Z lost control while headed north on Wildcat Canyon Road at high speed, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The car veered across a set of solid yellow lines and smashed into an oncoming 2014 Dodge Ram just north of Founders Way, CHP public-affairs Officer Kevin Pearlstein said.
Emergency crews had to free both motorists from their mangled vehicles. Medics airlifted the driver of the Nissan to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego.
The other driver, a 33-year-old officer with the San Diego Police Department, was taken to the same trauma center by ground ambulance, along with a 28-year-old Ramona woman who had been riding in his pickup truck. Her injuries were considered minor, Pearlstein said.
The names of the injured were withheld.
The wreck forced a full closure of the road in the area for a time. All lanes were clear again by noon.