Two people were killed and three injured in a three-vehicle wreck in Moreno Valley during which one victim was hurled into a storm channel, where he floated downstream into neighboring Perris before his body was recovered, authorities said Tuesday.
Isaac Piza, 25, of San Bernardino and Keiana Bridgeforth, 50, of Menifee were fatally injured in the collision at 10:30 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Cactus Avenue and Kitching Street, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Sgt. Marcos Acosta said two Dodge Ram pickups and a Lexus sedan impacted at the intersection during a rainstorm. Further details were not available.
Bridgeforth was at the wheel of the Lexus and was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later by paramedics.
Acosta said that one of the pickups, carrying Piza and a friend, whose identity was not disclosed, careened into the flood channel adjacent to Cactus. Piza was ejected from the Dodge, while his passenger remained inside the vehicle.
The sergeant said that good Samaritans went to the passenger’s aid, safely extricating the victim, who suffered unspecified non-life-threatening injuries.
Piza floated southbound in the channel until firefighters recovered his remains near the intersection of Evans Road and the Ramona Expressway in Perris. It was unclear whether he was killed by the collision impact, or drowned.
The parties in the other Dodge pickup suffered minor injuries and were not hospitalized.
The collision remains under investigation.