Coroner IDs Menifee Motorcyclist Killed In Trailer Crash

SAGE, CA — A 32-year-old Menifee man who was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and slammed into a trailer being hauled by a pickup truck in a rural area near Sage has been identified by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's Bureau.

Scott Burtness died at the scene Saturday at the intersection of Red Mountain and Cougar roads. The crash was reported at about 7:40 a.m. and Burtness was pronounced dead at 8 a.m., the coroner reported.

Burtness was riding at a high speed while rounding a curve on Red Mountain Road, just south of Cougar Road, as a 2001 Dodge Ram was turning in the intersection at about 5 mph, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The motorcyclist tried to avoid hitting the pickup truck but lost control and was ejected before landing on the asphalt roadway and sliding into the utility trailer's right side, according to the CHP.

The pickup truck driver — an 84-year-old man from Kingman, Arizona — was uninjured and was not arrested.

An investigation into the crash in ongoing.