A 49-year-old motorist was killed when his sports sedan collided head-on with another vehicle on Highway 74 in Homeland, authorities said Wednesday.
Ambrocio Cota of Nuevo was fatally injured shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday on the four-lane corridor just west of Joppe Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Mike Lassig said Cota was at the wheel of a 2010 Lexus IS250 going eastbound on the 74 at an unconfirmed speed when he veered across the center divider into westbound lanes for unexplained reasons.
The Lexus ended up directly in the path of a 2024 Chevrolet Express van, also traveling at un undetermined speed, Lassig said.
“The front of the Lexus crashed into the front of the van,” the CHP spokesman said. “The Lexus then continued in a northeasterly direction until it collided with a chain link fence.”
He said both vehicles sustained “major front end damage.”
Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location within minutes and pronounced Cota dead at the scene. He was the sole occupant of the Lexus.
The van’s driver and passenger escaped with minor injuries and did not require hospitalization.
An autopsy was pending on Cota.
Anyone with information about the accident was asked to contact the CHP’s Temecula office at 951-466-4300.