A Riverside man accused of hitting and killing a 50-year-old motorcyclist on Interstate 215, then fleeing the scene, was charged Thursday with DUI gross vehicular manslaughter and other offenses.
Ryan Andrew Burke, 20, was arrested Sunday after allegedly plowing into Martin Guillen of Long Beach on southbound I-215 at Blaine Street in west Riverside.
Along with the manslaughter count, Burke is charged with hit-and-run resulting in death and a sentence-enhancing allegation of fleeing the scene of a deadly crash.
He’s being held in lieu of $75,000 bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside and is slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Burke was drunk at the wheel of his 2014 Kia Forte when he approached Guillen from behind about 4 a.m. Sunday in the southbound lanes of the freeway.
Officer Dan Olivas said Burke was going in excess of 100 mph and slammed into the victim, who was flung from his 2017 Harley Davidson, tumbling onto the pavement.
Burke lost control of the Kia, which overturned in the middle of the freeway, according to Olivas. He said the defendant ran away before paramedics and officers reached the location.
Guillen died 20 minutes later, en route to Riverside Community Hospital.
Olivas said officers quickly identified Burke as the perpetrator, based on evidence gathered at the scene. He was found at his apartment on Canyon Crest Drive, where he was taken into custody without a struggle.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.