SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Authorities have publicly identified eight people who lost their lives in recent weeks to San Diego-area traffic accidents, three of them on the same day.
The most recent of the roadway fatalities took place shortly before 6 p.m. last Thursday, when a Kawasaki motorcycle being ridden by Monterey County resident Ivan Johnson, 21, collided with a Nissan SUV on southbound Interstate 5 near Pacific Highway in the Middletown area of San Diego, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Johnson died at the scene of the crash.
On March 16, Donna Okamoto of Santa Ana was heading west in a Mitsubishi SUV on state Route 76 near Lilac Road in the rural Pala area at about 2:30 a.m. when an eastbound motorist tried to pass another vehicle directly in Okamoto's path, causing a head-on crash, the medical examiner reported. Paramedics took Okamoto, 58, to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where she was pronounced dead.
The previous day, a hit-and-run killed a Las Vegas man on a street near MiraCosta College, according to the county agency. Jonathan Lupola, 34, was riding an electric bicycle in the 3100 block of Oceanside Boulevard when an unknown type of vehicle struck him, leaving him gravely injured. Following the collision, the motorist continued driving and left the area. Lupola died at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla three days later.
On March 14, a 27-year-old motorist suffered fatal injuries in a fiery traffic crash on eastbound Interstate 8 in the College area. San Diego-area resident William Gonzalez was heading east near College Avenue at about 1 a.m. when the Honda sedan he was driving collided with a fuel tanker truck and then struck a center-divider wall. Moments later, an SUV struck his car, causing it to become engulfed in flames. Gonzalez died at the scene of the wreck.
Five days earlier, a Los Angeles man lost his life to a traffic accident in a neighborhood near Leucadia State Beach. Roderick Armstrong, 60, was trying to help his stepfather maneuver a car into a parking space in the 100 block of Jupiter Street in Encinitas at about 6 p.m. March 9 when the Acura sedan being driven by the older man ran over the victim, leaving him pinned beneath it, the medical examiner reported. After emergency crews freed Armstrong, medics took him to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The previous day, a roadway accident mortally injured a homeless woman in northeastern San Diego County. Carrie Livingston, 59, was trying to cross the 1100 block of East Washington Street in Escondido on foot late at night when a Toyota sedan struck her. An ambulance crew took her to Palomar Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead shortly before 12:30 a.m. the following day.
Another March 8 traffic crash killed a 36-year-old man in Spring Valley, according to the county agency. Shortly before 7 p.m. that day, Jesse Ramirez of La Mesa got into a collision with a van while riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to the south on Sweetwater Springs Boulevard near Rothgard Road. Paramedics took him to Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, where he was pronounced dead.
Early that same day, another hit-and-run killed a pedestrian on a San Diego-area roadway, the medical examiner reported. Tina Smith, 54, was walking across the street in the 1600 block of East Plaza Boulevard in National City at about 2:15 a.m. when a westbound Chrysler sedan hit her. Smith, who was homeless, died at the scene. The unidentified motorist fled, officials said.
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