A woman killed when the stolen SUV she was riding in slammed head-on into a tractor-trailer just north of San Jacinto was identified Thursday as a 31-year-old Hemet resident.
Tanya Gil was in the front passenger seat of a 1998 Dodge Durango driven by 30-year-old Issa Mojaddidi when the crash occurred about 11 a.m. Wednesday on Gilman Springs Road, just east of Bridge Street, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Darren Meyer said the Durango had been reported stolen out of Victorville within the last week.
Mojaddidi was driving the SUV westbound on Gilman Springs when he drifted onto the right dirt shoulder of the two-lane corridor, prompting him to swerve back onto the hard surface. He over-corrected, however, causing the Dodge to “spin out of control, across the westbound lane and into the eastbound lane,” Meyer said.
About that time, a 40-foot tractor-trailer driven by 57-year-old Magallon Sanchez approached from the opposite direction, going eastbound, according to Meyer. He said the truck and SUV slammed into one another, causing both Gil and Mojaddidi to be thrown onto the roadway.
The Durango erupted in flames.
Gil was pronounced dead at the scene by Riverside County Fire Department personnel, who quickly doused the fire in the SUV.
Mojaddidi suffered major injuries and was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where he remains in serious condition.
Sanchez was not hurt.
Gilman Springs was closed at the location for over four hours while an investigation was conducted and the wreckage was cleared.
Meyer said alcohol or drugs have not been ruled out as possible factors in the collision.