Authorities Saturday were investigating a collision between an SUV and a tractor-trailer on Interstate 10 in Beaumont that killed a 31-year-old U.S. Navy Serviceman stationed in Twentynine Palms.
The fatality occurred about 12:35 p.m. Friday on westbound I-10 at Beaumont Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The agency said that a Kia Sportage plowed into the back of a big rig hauling a 53-foot trailer that had stopped in the slow lane near the Beaumont Avenue off-ramp.
The Kia’s driver, a U.S. Navy serviceman from Burgaw, North Carolina, suffered blunt force head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, the CHP said.
Authorities said the Navy serviceman — whose name was withheld pending notification of his family — had been stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
No other injuries were reported.