A 36-year-old man was fatally injured Monday in a rollover crash during which his pickup truck struck a Caltrans camera pole and tree on Interstate 215 in Menifee.
The fatality occurred about 3 a.m. on southbound I-215 at McCall Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Mike Lassig said that the victim, identified only as a Carlsbad man, was traveling at an unknown speed when his Dodge Ram drifted onto the right shoulder, slamming into a beam on which a Caltrans traffic camera was mounted.
“The Dodge continued in a southwesterly direction, where it collided with a large palm tree,” Lassig said. “The collision with the tree caused the Dodge to cross over the dirt gore point of the McCall on-ramp, and it subsequently overturned.”
He said that the victim was partially ejected from the vehicle when it rolled because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
No other vehicles were involved.
Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location within a few minutes and pronounced the motorist dead at the scene.
It’s unknown whether alcohol or drugs might have been factors in the crash, which remains under investigation.