A man killed when a suspected drunk driver collided with his compact SUV on Interstate 15 in Corona was identified Tuesday as a 44-year-old resident of the city.
Tommy Chu was fatally injured in the predawn crash Saturday on northbound I-15 at Weirick Road, according to the Riverside County coroner’s office.
Jorge Anival Gomez Augustin, 29, was arrested for allegedly causing the wreck and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on suspicion of second-degree murder, driving under the influence resulting in death and DUI resulting in great bodily injury.
Augustin’s case is under review by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, and felony charges might be filed Wednesday.
According to the California Highway Patrol, at about 3 a.m. Saturday, the suspect was driving his Mercedes Benz E-350 when he plowed into the rear of Chu’s northbound Honda CRV, just ahead of him.
“After the initial impact, both vehicles went off of the freeway, down an embankment and across the (Weirick) off-ramp lanes,” CHP Officer Juan Quintero said.
He said the vehicles came to rest near the exit ramp. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by Corona Fire Department paramedics. No one else was in his vehicle.
Augustin was not injured and was given a field sobriety test by CHP officers, who determined that he was inebriated, Quintero alleged.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident and booked into jail a short time later. Background information on him was not available.