CHP: Man Killed in DUI Crash Near Temecula

A man fatally injured when the pickup truck he was in overturned in the Temecula Valley because the driver was allegedly drunk was identified Monday as a 20-year-old Riverside resident.

Oscar Avina was pronounced dead at hospital following the crash on northbound Interstate 15 near Murrieta Hot Springs Road Saturday morning. Three other people were injured.

The driver of the 2004 Toyota Tacoma pickup, 18-year-old Calvin Alexander Cerda of Riverside, was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI resulting in great bodily injury, according to the CHP.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Cerda was heading back to Riverside after he and the victims partied in San Diego.

At around 4:25 a.m., the Tacoma was approaching the exit to Murrieta Hot Springs Road when Cerda apparently fell asleep at the wheel, according to a CHP collision report.

The report said the pickup was traveling 65 mph to 70 mph when it began “swerving from side-to-side,” awakening the suspect, who attempted to regain control of the Tacoma but couldn’t.

“The truck left the roadway and began to overturn multiple times in the grass median,” according to the report.

According to the CHP, three passengers, including Avina, were not wearing seat belts. Avina and another victim were ejected from the pickup.

Avina suffered major head trauma and was transported to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he died a short time later. The other victims were treated for minor to moderate injuries, the CHP reported.

Cerda had a fractured wrist.

He posted a $75,000 bond and was released from the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta Saturday afternoon.

– City News Service contributed to this report.

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