Deadly Weekend On Area Freeways; Lake Elsinore Man Among The Dead

This weekend has been a deadly one on local freeways. 

There have been several fatal and injury crashes reported by authorities.

In Lake Elsinore, a vehicle that went over the side of a road left its driver with minor injuries, a Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman reported.

The crash occurred at about 11 p.m. Saturday at Canyon Hills and Cottonwood Canyon roads, according to a report from Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Melody Hendrickson.

"The Incident Commander reported a solo vehicle approximately 40 feet over the side. Firefighters performed a low angle rescue and extricated the patient who sustained minor injuries," Hendrickson wrote. 

The driver was transported by ground ambulance to a hospital; the victim's current condition is unknown. The cause of the solo-vehicle wreck is under investigation.

More serious crashes were also reported this weekend. 

An SUV that spun out of control on the southbound 15 Freeway in Corona left a 40-year-old Lake Elsinore man dead. (Click here for more on the crash.)

The crash was reported at 1:10 a.m. Sunday on the southbound Corona Freeway south of Magnolia Avenue, the CHP reported.

According to reports, the SUV hit a sedan, spun out of control, causing it to flip and roll off the side of the freeway.

The vehicle landed on its roof and the man was ejected and found in a water drainage area, the CHP reported.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

A 30-year-old woman also died in a crash this morning on the 215 Freeway in the Riverside area that blocked northbound lanes and left at least one person trapped in a vehicle, the CHP reported.

The crash was reported at 1:18 a.m. Sunday in the center divider of the northbound 215, north of Central Avenue, the CHP reported.

The northbound lanes remained closed until 4:10 a.m. while one person was freed from wreckage, the CHP reported.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Also Sunday morning, a Murrieta woman was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk and causing a major injury crash that sent two people to the hospital. Click here for more on 38-year-old Yadira Gonzalez's arrest in the pre-dawn hours.

Two crashes were reported in Jurupa Valley.

The first occurred Saturday at 10:13 p.m. at Limonite Avenue and Troth Street, according to Hendrickson. 

A motorcyclist suffered major injuries after being thrown from the bike in the single-vehicle crash, according to CHP reports.

In a separate Jurupa Valley crash, a man was transported by air to a hospital with major injuries after crashing his white sedan into a tree, authorities said.

The Riverside County Coroner's Office provided an update, reporting that the victim, 23-year-old Luis Martinez of Fontana died from his injuries at 1:12 a.m. Sunday.

That deadly crash occurred at 11:34 p.m. Saturday on the northbound 15 Freeway at Limonite Avenue, Hendrickson reported.

"The Incident Commander reported a solo vehicle into a tree," according to Hendrickson's report.

"A white sedan swerved across lanes and hit a tree," according to CHP reports. 

Two people suffered major injuries Saturday morning in a two-vehicle crash involving a wrong-way driver on northbound Interstate 215 at Nuevo Road in Perris, authorities reported.

The crash on the northbound side of the freeway at Nuevo Road was reported at 2:15 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

One person from each vehicle suffered major injuries, Hendrickson reported, adding that one person was cut from the wreckage.

Both people were taken to a hospital, she reported.

The crash closed all northbound lanes of the freeway, according to the CHP.

A Friday night fatality was also reported in the City of Riverside.

In that crash, the driver of a sports car sped out of control on a Riverside street at 100 mph, slammed into a palm tree and was killed, according to police reports.

Dispatchers received a 911 call at 7:06 p.m. Friday about the crash and sent Riverside police officers to the front of 1825 Third St. A witness told the officers a late model Dodge Viper heading west on Third Street lost control and plowed into the tree, City of Riverside police Sgt. Ben Shafer reported.

The driver, identified by the coroner's office as Raphael Debacco, 39, of Jurupa Valley, was pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger was sent to a hospital in serious condition, Shafer reported. The passenger's medical condition was not known. --City News Service and Toni McAllister contributed to this report.