A man riding a dirt bike near Lake Elsinore sustained major injuries when he was struck by a pickup whose driver fled the scene on foot and remains at large Thursday.
The hit-and-run happened about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Highway 74 and Hammack Avenue, just east of the city, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Mike Lassig said that the victim, identified only as a 24-year-old Lake Elsinore man, was westbound on the highway, without a headlight on his Suzuki dirt bike, and was approaching Hammack at the same time the suspect was approaching in a Ford F-250 from the opposite direction.
Lassig said that the pickup was in the left turn lane to go north on Hammack and initiated the turn just as the motorcyclist reached the intersection, traveling at an unknown speed.
The pickup struck the Suzuki’s front wheel, and the motorcyclist was “ejected and came to rest in the intersection,” the CHP spokesman said.
“The pickup driver proceeded northbound on Hammack and parked the vehicle in the roadway,” Lassig said. “The driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene on foot in a northerly direction.”
Witnesses called 911, and Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location within a few minutes, rendering life-saving treatment to the victim, who was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar with major injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers searched the area but could not find the suspect. It was unclear whether the truck belonged to him.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts or identity was asked to contact the CHP’s Temecula office at 951-506-2000.