Investigators with the California Highway Patrol Friday asked any potential witnesses to a crash that fatally injured a motorcyclist on Interstate 15 in Temecula to come forward, as they work to uncover what might have caused the victim to lose control.
Officer Mike Lassig said that since the investigation got underway Monday, personnel at the agency’s Temecula office have been unable to identify a specific trigger for the crash.
According to Lassig, 43-year-old Nicholas Almendarez of Temecula was riding his 1998 BMW R-200C about 10:20 a.m. Monday, entering northbound I-15 from Temecula Parkway, when something occurred.
Lassig said Almendarez was in the HOV lane, going roughly 45 mph, when he abruptly “applied the BMW’s brakes, causing it to skid.”
“The rider lost control of the BMW,” the CHP spokesman said. “The BMW collided into the steel guard rail at the west edge of the northbound on-ramp. The rider was ejected from the motorcycle.”
He said that Almendarez landed on the shoulder, suffering head trauma.
It did not appear that any other vehicles were involved.
Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location minutes later and found Almendarez in grave condition. He was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he died a short time later.
“CHP investigators are seeking a potential eyewitness driving a white SUV or white pickup truck,” Lassig said. “The CHP is also requesting any other members of the public that may have observed this traffic collision to contact the CHP.”
Anyone with information was asked to call the agency’s Temecula office at 951-506-2000.