A 48-year-old man was fatally struck by an intoxicated SUV driver while walking in a traffic lane on the south end of Lake Elsinore, authorities said Monday.
Benjamin Douglass of Lake Elsinore perished shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday after he was hit on South Grand Avenue, just north of Marvella Lane, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Brian Seel said that Douglass was walking “within the southbound lane of Grand … directly in the path of” traffic for reasons still under investigation.
A 51-year-old motorist at the wheel of a Toyota Rav4 was heading south on Grand at 45 mph when he encountered the victim and was apparently unable to swerve or stop before plowing into him, according to the CHP spokesman.
He said that after running over Douglass, the driver, identified only as a Murrieta resident, immediately stopped and waited for law enforcement.
Riverside County Fire Department paramedics arrived roughly 10 minutes later and pronounced Douglass dead at the scene.
Officers ran a sobriety test on the motorist and “determined (he) had been driving the motor vehicle while intoxicated,” Seel said.
The man was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence, but nothing else, according to Seel.
He said the man had no visible injuries but still required medical attention and was taken to nearby Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was in stable condition Monday.
His identity would not be released until he was formally booked into jail. Background information on him was unavailable.