RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Corvette driver who died after colliding with two other vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, was identified Friday morning by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Coroner's Bureau.
Roland Barsoum, 49, of Los Angeles, suffered fatal injuries in the wreck shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday on the eastbound 60 just east of Market Street, according to the Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol.
Officer Javier Navarro said Barsoum was at the wheel of a 2024 Chevrolet Corvette traveling "at a high rate of speed in the No. 2 lane" when he came upon a slower-moving big rig and failed to brake.
The Corvette driven by Barsoum slammed into the rear of the semi, causing the sports sedan to angle right and crash into a 2018 Toyota Tacoma pickup entering the freeway from Market, Navarro said.
Barsoum's vehicle then went off the freeway and down an embankment before coming to rest.
The tractor-trailer veered into the center divider after the impact and came to a stop. The trucker escaped injury. The occupant of the Toyota stopped on the freeway shoulder and also did not require medical attention. Neither person was identified.
Barsoum was pronounced dead at the scene by Riverside Fire Department paramedics. Speed was considered a factor in the collision, according to Navarro.
An autopsy was pending on him Friday.
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