Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

INDUSTRY - An LAPD motor officer was involved in a crash on the northbound 605 freeway near the I-10 freeway Friday morning.

All lanes of a northbound, 605 freeway just south of the I-10 were temporarily stopped to wrap up the scene and tow the motorcycle, according to the California Highway Patrol Traffic Management Center.

Traffic was flowing once again at 5:53 a.m., according to the CHP.

The extent of injuries to the motorcycle officer are not immediately clear, although a Los Angeles County Fire Department squad is on scene for transport.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS - The driver of a Ford Ranger had little choice but to wait for help to somehow find her as she lay injured after crashing down 250 over Mt. Baldy Road one week ago.

Authorities said the driver, only described as a middle-aged woman, swerved to avoid striking a deer. She suffered a fractured ankle and was unable to call for help due to a lack of cellphone reception.

The twisted Ford Ranger could not be seen from the roadway.

“In this person’s case, she had enough supplies to survive in her pickup for four nights before help arrived,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station in a social media statement.

A passing hiker set on finding new fishing spots heard the woman’s cries for help and contacted first responders.

The San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team rappelled down to the twisted wreck, pulled the woman free and helped package her for air transport to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

“We can’t stress this enough: if you plan on traveling on a mountain road this winter, bring extra supplies. It never hurts to have food, water, a sleeping bag, and extra layers on hand in the event of an emergency,” according to the Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS - Hikers reportedly stumbled upon a crash scene and a driver was saved after spending three frigid days inside the twisted wreck along Mt. Baldy Road Sunday.

The driver, only described as a middle-aged woman, was apparently alert enough to tell first responders that she had crashed and remained in her vehicle since Wednesday. She was taken by helicopter to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center for further treatment, according to Lt. Philpot of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

The Ford Ranger crash happen along about Mt. Baldy Road north of Shinn Road. First responders were called to the scene around 12:30 p.m.

A Los Angeles County fire engine was in the general area when the call was made, and firefighters were very quickly on scene, Philpot told SGV CityWatch.

The driver was pulled from the vehicle, which was estimated to be 100 feet down from the roadway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The extent of injuries to the driver is unclear.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS - Investigators are still trying to determine why a driver in a 2015 Chevy Cruz went over the side of Angeles Crest Highway late Tuesday night.

The Chevy Cruz went over the side of Angeles Crest Highway while traveling westbound at mile marker 32.18, June 13. California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched at 8:30 p.m., according to Jonathan Boyd, public information officer for the CHP Altadena station.

An investigator believes that the crash happened seven minutes prior to CHP being dispatched.

It was not immediately clear how far over the side the Cruz fell, but initially Los Angeles County firefighters believe the vehicle fell more than 300 feet over Angeles Crest.

Rescuers traveled down the mountainside to the vehicle and determined that the driver, only described as a Long Beach man, died at the scene, Boyd told SGV CityWatch.

It is unclear if alcohol, drugs, or any other factors led to the crash.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - A 57-year-old died after his vehicle overturned on a road in the San Gabriel Mountains Saturday.

Elias Perez Santiago, from Pico Rivera, died from blunt traumatic injuries in an accidental crash on East Fork Road, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

The crash was reported to the California Highway Patrol at 8:47 p.m. East of the Monroe Truck Trail. Santiago died at the scene.

Moderate rain was falling in the mountains at the time first responders were dispatched.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
​CityWatch Editor

SANTA FE SPRINGS - A man and woman were found and arrested in Arcadia April 3 after detectives identified them as suspects in a fatal hit and run crash.

Priscilla Michelle Cornejo, 39, and Johnathon David Cornejo, 33, were booked on suspicion of murder and other charges in the March 22 crash.

Priscilla is accused of causing a head-on crash while driving in opposing lanes of the 60 freeway at Crossroads Parkway, killing an 11-year-old girl and severely wounding the girl’s father, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Priscilla was driving a black Hyundai Sonata west on the 60 freeway east of the 605 freeway around 4:06 a.m. March 22, her husband following in a black Ford Taurus. Priscilla clipped a tractor trailer, causing it and the semi it was hauling to jackknife. Her Sonata flipped around, according to the CHP.

Priscilla allegedly fled the scene by going eastbound in westbound lanes without headlights on. Johnathon U-turned and began following his wife Priscilla who crashed head on into a gray Toyota Corolla occupied by the 11-year-old girl who was killed at the scene.

“After the collision, Priscilla Cornejo, abandoned the Hyundai and entered the Ford, being driven by her husband, and fled the scene westbound on State Route 60,” according to the CHP in a written statement.

CHP Santa Fe Springs Area investigators took the husband and wife into custody with the help of the CHP Southern Division Warrant Service Team.

Priscilla was charged murder, felony hit and run, two counts of driving on the wrong side of the road, reckless driving, filing a false auto theft report and misdemeanor hit and run, according to Los Angeles County booking records.

Johnathon was charged with murder and being an accessory after the fact, according to Los Angeles County booking records.

The husband and wife are being held in lieu $2 million bail and appeared in the Pomona Courthouse April 5. Both are scheduled back in court April 18.

SANTA FE SPRINGS – Authorities announced September 30 charges against a driver accused of fleeing the scene of a crash from last year.

The driver fled the November 26, 2021 crash at Colima Road and Lambert Road in unincorporated South Whittier, but was caught. Darrell Maurice Jewett, 34, was detained, but later released pending additional investigation, according to the California Highway Patrol, Santa Fe Springs Office.

The Santa Fe Springs Area Criminal Investigations Unit filed charges of murder, felony driving under the influence, felony hit and run and gross vehicular manslaughter, according to the CHP.

The driver of a 2012 maroon Nissan Altima struck a blue 2020 Honda Accord after allegedly running a red light around 5:30 a.m. The collision caused both vehicles to strike a nearby business.

Jewett was arraigned at the Bellflower Courthouse September 30 and is being held without bail. He is scheduled for an appearance in the Norwalk Courthouse October 25, according to Los Angeles County booking information.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS - A bicyclist reportedly died in a collision on Highway 39 in the Azusa foothills Thursday morning.

Los Angeles County fire fighters and the California Highway Patrol were called to Highway 39 south of East Fork Road around 10:16 a.m. July 28.

Few details are available at the time this post was launched.

It is unclear how many bicyclists or vehicles were involved, according to Officer Kendricks of the California Highway Patrol.

Firefighters arrived on scene and met with someone who was performing CPR on an injured person, according to California Highway Patrol traffic logs.

Northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 39 between rocks Springs Way in Azusa to East Fork Road are closed for at least three more hours for an investigation, the CHP said.

MOUNTAINS - One person died in an early-morning crash after plunging off Glendora Mountain Road. 

The California Highway Patrol was dispatched to Glendora Mountain Road at mile marker 6.50 around 12:50 a.m. June 8 to a crashed black Mazda Miata.

A passerby in a black Honda Accord apparently called authorities to report the crash, according to Officer Moises Marroquin of the CHP Traffic Management Center.

Marroquin did not immediately have an estimate on how many feet the vehicle traveled off Glendora Mountain Road. Traffic logs only indicated the vehicle was “far down” off the road.

Authorities were waiting for enough daylight to retrieve the body, Marroquin told SGV CityWatch.

MOUNTAINS – A 69-year-old man reported missing by the Chino Police Department April 13 was found dead in a crashed vehicle one day later.

Michael Bell died from traumatic blunt force to the head and suffered neck trauma. His death was ruled accidental, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Bell was last seen in Ontario driving a white Acura MDX. Authorities tracked his cell phone, which last gave a location somewhere north of Azusa along Highway 39, according to the Chino Police Department.

April 14, firefighters and the California Highway Patrol were called by a passerby around 12:45 p.m. to a vehicle discovered over the side of Highway 39 south of Robbs Gulch near mile marker 23.20. Bell died at the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bell was driving north on Highway 39 at an unknown speed. For undetermined reasons, Bell’s Acura veered off the roadway and crashed down an dirt and rock embankment, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bell suffered from undisclosed medical issues and may have been disoriented, according to the Chino Police Department.