Tow Truck Struck - 1 Fatal - 09.01.24 (CA)

[TowForce]

One Person Killed in Lake Elsinore Crash

 

A two-vehicle crash in Lake Elsinore Monday morning killed one person and sent another to a hospital.

 

The crash was reported to the California Highway Patrol at 3:16 a.m. on the southbound 15 Freeway at Highway 74.

 

A tow truck driver reported the truck was rear-ended by a white Chevrolet Cruze sedan and that the car was in pieces, the CHP said.

 

One person was pronounced dead at the scene and another was taken to a hospital by ground ambulance for treatment of serious injuries, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

 

 

[TowForce]

Woman Suspected of Killing Passenger in DUI Wreck on I-15

 

21-year-old woman allegedly driving under the influence slammed into the rear of a tow truck on Interstate 15 in Lake Elsinore, fatally injuring her front-seat passenger, authorities said Tuesday.

 

Tudda Teeanna Tran of Lake Elsinore is suspected of causing the death of 21-year-old Melissa Lopez of Lake Elsinore just after 3 a.m. Monday on southbound I-15, just south of Central Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.

 

Officer Mike Lassig said that Tran was at the wheel of a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze going over 70 mph in the slow lane when she approached a slower-moving 2019 Ford flatbed tow truck just ahead of her.

 

“The (suspect) was traveling too fast and was unable to avoid the rear of the Ford tow truck,” Lassig said. “The Cruze’s front end collided with the rear of the Ford. The rear-end collision caused the Cruze’s front-seat passenger … to suffer fatal injuries.”

 

Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location within 15 minutes and pronounced Lopez dead at the scene.

Tran was seriously injured and taken to nearby Inland Valley Medical Center for treatment, while the operator of the tow truck, identified only as a 52-year-old Wildomar man, was uninjured.

 

Further investigation confirmed Tran was inebriated at the time of the crash, Lassig alleged.

 

She was technically placed under arrest on suspicion of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter and is under watch by law enforcement at the hospital.

It was unknown how long Tran may be hospitalized.

 

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