A convicted felon accused of colliding with a compact SUV on Interstate 15 in Corona while driving drunk, killing the 44-year-old driver, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder.
Jorge Anival Gomez Augustin, 29, was arrested after the predawn crash Saturday that fatally injured Tommy Chu of Corona on northbound I-15 at Weirick Road.
Augustin, who is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, is slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to the California Highway Patrol, about 3 a.m. Saturday, the defendant was driving his Mercedes Benz E-350 at an unknown speed when he allegedly plowed into the rear of Chu’s northbound Honda CRV that was 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 that the vehicles came to rest near the exit ramp.
Chu was pronounced dead at the scene by Corona Fire Department paramedics. He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
Augustin was not injured and was given a field sobriety test by CHP officers, who determined that he was inebriated, Quintero alleged.
The defendant was taken into custody without incident and booked into jail a short time later.
According to court records, he has a prior conviction for importation and possession of a sawed-off shotgun.