CHP Seeks SUV, Pickup Truck Driver In Fatal Temecula Motorcycle Crash

TEMECULA, CA — A 43-year-old Temecula resident who crashed his motorcycle Tuesday on the Temecula Parkway onramp to northbound Interstate 15 had hit the brakes just before going down, and now the California Highway Patrol is seeking a driver who may know more about what happened.

Late Thursday night, the CHP's Temecula Area office issued a plea asking a motorist who was driving a white SUV or pickup truck at the crash site when the wreck occurred to come forward. The CHP characterized the driver as a "potential witness."

The CHP is also asking anyone who saw the crash to contact the CHP, Temecula Area office at 951-506-2000.

Nicholas Almendarez was on a 1998 BMW R1200C when he went down at about 10:18 a.m. Tuesday. Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead a short time later at Wildomar's Inland Valley Medical Center, according to the CHP.

The CHP determined Almendarez was in the Temecula Parkway onramp's HOV lane, getting onto northbound I-15 "at a speed greater than 45 mph," when, for reasons still under investigation, he hit the brakes, causing the BMW to skid.

The motorcycle crashed into the onramp's steel guard rail, which caused Almendarez to fly off the bike and land on the asphalt.

The crash remains under investigation by the CHP, Temecula Area office.