Corona Man’s Car Goes Off Freeway and Crashes into House in Temecula

Rich Wang, Staff Writer

On Feb. 26, 58-year-old Mitchell Summers was driving a white Toyota Corolla when his car suddenly swerved, cutting through all the lanes of traffic and driving off the I-15 freeway, ultimately crashing into a house’s garage in Temecula.

Preliminary reports from the agency show someone reported a reckless driver in the area and spotted the vehicle going off the roadway. He was arrested under suspicion of being under the influence of drugs after being hospitalized for treatment of neck and head injuries sustained on the Monday morning crash.

The crash was reported at 11:31 a.m. on the southbound side of Interstate 15 at Rancho California Road. On Tuesday, California Highway Patrol officer Mike Lassig said witnesses reported that the 2004 Toyota Corolla was in the freeway’s fast lane going about 70 mph when it made an abrupt right turn across lanes toward the shoulder.

“The vehicle cut across all lanes, traveled onto the shoulder and launched off the embankment traveling in a downward position,” Lassig said, adding that it ultimately traveled through a chain link fence and into the side of the garage. There was no one in the home in the 41000 block of Fifth Street at the time.

“Firefighters arrived on scene and confirmed one vehicle into a single-story, single family residence,” the Riverside County Fire Department reports. “The vehicle crashed into the left side exterior garage wall.”

Gas and electricity to the home were turned off as precautionary measures while the home was being inspected.  Though fire officials said the house was still inhabitable, one person did end up being displaced as a result of the crash.