A suspected drunken driver plowed into a 33-year-old woman stranded on Interstate 15 in Temecula, killing her and then attempting to flee the scene, authorities alleged Monday.
Mason Michael Joachim, 26, of Carlsbad was arrested and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta Saturday night on suspicion of second-degree murder, driving under the influence resulting in great bodily injury, hit-and-run causing death and driving on a suspended license.
Joachim is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
He allegedly killed Nancy Arzate of Perris on northbound I-15 at Temecula Parkway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Mike Lassig said that Arzate was at the wheel of her 2011 Toyota Camry shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday when she apparently lost control and struck a roadside object, causing her sedan to turn sideways in lanes.
Lassig said the victim got out of her car and stood next to it.
One motorist approaching the stranded woman was able to swerve to avoid hitting her and the stationary Toyota, but Joachim, traveling roughly 70 mph in his 2003 Ford Edge, did not stop or swerve, slamming into Arzate and her car, the CHP spokesman alleged.
“The suspect fled the scene on foot immediately following the crash,” Lassig said.
He said multiple motorists stopped and attempted to render aid to Arzate until Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location, but she was pronounced dead at the scene less than 15 minutes later.
CHP officers and sheriff’s deputies obtained a description of the suspect and initiated a search of the immediate area that netted results a half-hour later, when Joachim was taken into custody without incident a short distance from the wreck, according to Lassig.
The suspect was treated for minor injuries at Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, then booked into jail.
Background information indicated Joachim was previously convicted of DUI, but the details weren’t available.