My News LA reported recently that a Perris man was killed late last Friday evening on Interstate 15 near Lake Elsinore by a driver suspected of driving while intoxicated.
According to officials from the California Highway Patrol, the accident happened between 11:00 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Friday, January 8, 2021, along Interstate 15 near the Railroad Canyon / Diamond Road exit. A man from Perris, 49 years of age, was driving southbound on I-15 in a 2020 Nissan Versa when he slowed down due to traffic ahead of him. A 2015 GMC Sierra pickup truck, driven by a man from Temecula 55 years of age, overtook the Versa and struck the vehicle from behind.
The impact was forceful enough to slam the Nissan into the center divider of the highway, and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene according to the Riverside County Coroner’s Office. The GMC Sierra fled the scene, the driver lurching into the right shoulder lane and speeding away. A California Highway Patrol officer spotted the GMC’s front-end damage and pulled the vehicle over near Railroad Canyon road.
The driver of the GMC Sierra was uninjured and was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and felony hit-and-run.