LAKE ELSINORE (CNS) - A search was underway Monday for the motorist who ran over and killed a 35-year-old pedestrian walking on a freeway on-ramp in Lake Elsinore, then fled the scene.
The deadly hit-and-run happened shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday on the Main Street entrance to southbound Interstate 15, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Mike Lassig said the victim, identified only as a Fontana man, was walking within one of the on-ramp lanes when he was struck by the driver of a Toyota Camry hybrid traveling at an unknown speed to enter the freeway.
"The victim was wearing dark clothing and was in an unlit portion of the freeway on-ramp," Lassig said.
He said the motorist didn't stop.
Another driver at the wheel of a 2017 Ford Explorer drove onto the ramp moments later and ran over the pedestrian as he lay in the roadway, according to Lassig.
"He was unable to see the pedestrian," the CHP spokesman said. "He pulled over when he realized that he had run over the man."
The motorist, identified only as a 34-year-old Lake Elsinore resident, called 911, and Riverside County Fire Department paramedics arrived within minutes, pronouncing the pedestrian dead at the scene.
The Explorer driver was questioned and allowed to go.
Impact evidence recovered at the scene indicated the first vehicle to strike the pedestrian was a Camry manufactured between 2007 and 2011.
"The Toyota should have moderate front-end damage," Lassig said.
Anyone with information about the car or driver was asked to contact the CHP's Temecula office at 951-466-4300.
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