TEMECULA (CNS) - An allegedly impaired driver was arrested Tuesday following a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 15 that killed a motorist and seriously injured another driver whose truck careened off the freeway and slammed into a parking structure at Temecula City Hall.
The 7:28 a.m. collision occurred on the southbound I-15, south of Rancho California Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol.
CHP Officer Mike Lassig said a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck traveling at high speed slammed into the back of a Nissan Altima, killing the woman driving that car and causing a chain-reaction crash involving four other vehicles.
The force of the impact sent a Chevrolet S-10 pickup off the road and into the side of the Temecula City Hall parking structure just west of the freeway, mangling the pickup and rendering it nearly unrecognizable. The driver suffered serious injuries, according to Lassig.
Drivers of two of the other vehicles had minor injuries, and another driver was unhurt. All of the injured parties were taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar.
The driver of the Silverado, 25-year-old Javier Caldera of Auburn, Washington, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and was taken to the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in French Valley, according to Lassig.
Officers shut down all lanes of southbound I-15 in the area immediately after the crash, as well as the southbound ramp from Rancho California Road to the freeway, triggering a SigAlert. Traffic was clogged on the southbound I-15 and I-215 through Temecula and Murrieta through late morning.
The far right lane of the freeway was reopened a little less than hour after the crash, according to the CHP. All lanes were reopened just after 11 a.m.