A 43-year-old man who was fatally injured when his car slammed into a utility pole and overturned just north of Murrieta was identified Tuesday.
Cameron Sea Jay of Temecula suffered catastrophic injuries in the crash about 12:45 a.m. Monday on Interstate 215, less than a half-mile north of Clinton Keith Road.
California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Lassig said the victim was driving his 2012 Volkswagen Jetta southbound on I-215 in the slow lane when he abruptly turned into the adjacent traffic lane and hit a Ford F-150 pickup truck.
“The force of the impact caused the Jetta to veer back to the right, onto the shoulder, where the right side of the vehicle struck a light pole,” Lassig said. “The vehicle rolled over, (landing) on its wheels within the dirt shoulder area.”
The light standard toppled onto the freeway, where a Hyundai Kona ran into it, according to the CHP spokesman.
Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location within a few minutes and rendered emergency treatment to Jay, who was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he died shortly before 5 a.m. Monday.
The occupants of the other two vehicles escaped injury, Lassig said.
The freeway was not shut down.
An autopsy was pending to determine whether alcohol or drugs might have been factors in the crash.