Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Investigators have named the truck driver killed in a crash involving three big rigs and a sedan in West Covina. Southgate man Edmundo Hernandez Beltran, 52, was identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. An autopsy has yet to be scheduled to determine the exact cause of death. The crash occurred around 2:50 a.m. September 26. A Honda Civic and two big rigs came to a stop in the No. 4 lane of the eastbound I-10 freeway west of Citrus Street due to a separate collision. A third big rig failed to stop and caused a chain reaction crash, according to the California Highway Patrol. The big rig driver who did not stop crashed into two stopped big rigs in front of him. The Honda Civic was then struck.
Beltran died at the scene. All eastbound lanes were shut down for hours during an investigation and cleanup. The driver who caused the collision remains hospitalized at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center with major injuries, the CHP said. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors in collision. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - Caltrans is scheduled to close north and southbound Azusa Avenue at the I-10 freeway for 34 hours beginning 7 p.m. June 22. All lanes of Azusa Avenue will be closed from East Workman Avenue to East Garvey Avenue South until 5 a.m. Monday, June 24. The work is being done to demolish, repave and adjust the underpass roadway, according to Caltrans. The roadwork is part of the I-10 High Occupancy Vehicle Lane Construction Project. No freeway lanes will be impacted. Alternate exits for freeway motorists are North Citrus Street for westbound travelers and South Vincent Avenue for eastbound travelers, Caltrans said. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - Two students were killed outside West Covina High School Tuesday in a drunk driving crash -- but the students will be just fine. The mock collision was planned as part of a two-day event with the Every 15 Minutes Program, which challenges high school juniors and seniors to consider the grave realities of DUI driving and its impact on the victims and their family and friends. The mock collision was conducted by the West Covina Police Department, California Highway Patrol, West Covina Fire Department, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner and a host of volunteers, which includes Custer Christiansen Mortuary in Covina. The mock collision took place on Cameron Avenue near the high school. A mock procedure was conducted with the students being transported to a nearby hospital where they later died. The suspected DUI driver, a West Covina High student, was even jailed, according to Officer David Sifling of the West Covina Police Department. Organizers selected some students from West Covina High School to take part in the program, which will include drunk driving demonstrations and a slideshow delivered by a local trauma surgeon showing people injured and killed in DUI collisions, Sifling said. The students will be secluded at a hotel with little to no contact with family and friends. The students will write letters to their parents.
“The letter will start off ‘Every 15 minutes, someone loses their lives to DUI and today I lost mine and I never got to tell you’,” Sifling said. The juniors and seniors will meet again for an assembly at West Covina High School Wednesday, April 24 at 10:30 a.m. A casket will be rolled into the assembly, followed by “the living dead” students killed in the mock crash. A compilation video fo the two-day event will be shown, highlighting the major events from the crash to the arrest of the DUI driver. “A select few of them will read their letters in front of the students and that’s when the heartbreaking stuff starts happening,” Sifling said. Publicly expressing the shock and sorrow of going through a fatal DUI crash -- even a mock crash -- is still a reeling experience for the students, Sifling said. “The event makes a huge impact on everybody at the school,” Sifling said. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - Traffic was at a standstill for hours overnight after a woman was struck and killed on the I-10 freeway, the CHP said. The woman, 22 -year-old Grisol Lupita Ramirez, was killed after she exited a stopped 2007 Honda Civic that crashed into the center divider of the westbound I-10 freeway east of Holt Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver of the Civic apparently hydroplaned in the No. 4 lane and crashed into the center divider around 11:25 p.m. January 5. The Civic spun around and stopped in the No. 2 lane, the CHP said. Ramirez exited the right front passenger door and was struck by a driver who fled the scene, the CHP said.
West Covina firefighters declared Ramirez dead at 11:56 p.m. All westbound lanes were closed around 12:13 a.m. and were finally reopened around 3:21 a.m. Anyone who has information on the hit and run driver is urged to call the California Highway Patrol Baldwin Park Office at 626-338-1164. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - A multi-lane Sig Alert was cleared this morning after a multi-vehicle crash claimed one life on the westbound Interstate 10 freeway in West Covina December 7.
The crash between a big rig, an SUV and a sedan black the No. 2, 3 and 4 lanes near Holt Avenue around 1:45 a.m. Friday. All westbound lanes were temporarily blocked while authorities and first responders arrived to treat the wounded, according to the California Highway Patrol. It was unclear how many others were injured in the collision. The Sig Alert, issued at 2:06 a.m., was cancelled at 5:28 a.m. All lanes were cleared of the crash by 6:42 a.m. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - A 43-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a driver Halloween night.
The woman was struck by a vehicle that was driven into the northeast corner of Amar Road and Nogales Avenue around 6:45 p.m. October 31. CPR efforts were made, but the woman died at the scene, according to Cpl. Rudy Lopez of the West Covina Police Department. The 74-year-old Arizona woman behind the wheel of the 2004 Saturn Ion that struck the victim was hospitalized for undisclosed injuries. The driver was northbound on Nogales Avenue and went through the intersection when the vehicle was driven to the northeast portion of the intersection where the victim was waiting at a bus stop, Lopez said. The crash is being investigated by the West Covina Police Major Accident Investigation Team. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - A young adult female was killed after a driver hit her near a West Covina intersection Wednesday night.
The collision occurred at the northeast corner of Nogales and Amar Road sometime before 7 p.m. The victim was either in the crosswalk or was hit when the vehicle jumped the curb, according to Lt. Ron Allen of the West Covina Police Department in a social media post. A second collision left two other young adult females injured at Cameron and Pacific avenues. The injuries received included a head injury and compound leg fracture, but it it unclear which victim sustained which injury. Allen was unavailable to answer calls for information. THe victims in the latter crash were taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. The drivers in both crashes remained at each scene. It is unclear if alcohol, drugs, or distracted driving played a role in the collisions. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - Traffic is flowing again on the I-10 after a collision in the center divider lead to a fuel spill and large fire Monday morning.
At least three vehicles were involved in the crash, including a large truck, which wrapped around the pole of a freeway sign on the center divider just before 6:30 a.m. All eastbound lanes and the westbound No. 1 and 2 lanes were shut down about 20 minutes later, according to the California Highway Patrol. At 6:51 a.m., the CHP requested all east and west lanes to be shutdown during the fire and cleanup. It is unclear how many people were injured in the crash. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor WEST COVINA - A Fontana man was declared dead at the scene of a late-night crash on the Interstate 10 freeway Wednesday night.
The driver, a 55-year-old Fontana man, was ejected after his 2007 Honda Civic overturned after striking the center divider on the westbound side west of Sunset Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision occurred around 11:57 p.m. One minute later, a Nissan Sentra, driven by another Fontana resident, struck the left rear of the crashed Civic in the No. 1 and 2 lanes of traffic after the driver could not avoid the collision, the CHP said. The 27-year-old driver received only minor injuries. Alcohol is not a suspected factor in the crash, the CHP said. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor Heads Up, West Covina! DUI/Driver License Checkpoint Coming Aug. 17
WEST COVINA - Police are planning a DUI/driver license checkpoint for this Friday, August 17. The checkpoint is part of a national end-of-summer campaign, which will run through Labor Day weekend, considered by law enforcement as one of the deadliest times of the year in terms of DUI-related deaths, according to the West Covina Police Department. The checkpoint is scheduled to begin after 6 p.m. at an undisclosed location. |
Archives
January 2024
Categories
All
|