A pickup driver was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after violently plowing into a car, killing the driver, and causing a multi-vehicle chain reaction traffic collision on the southbound 15 Freeway in Temecula Tuesday, authorities said.
Javier Caldera, 25, of Auburn, Washington, was speeding when his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck collided into the back of a small Nissan on the freeway, just as traffic was slowing down south of Rancho California Road at around 7:25 a.m., California Highway Patrol said.
Dashcam video posted to YouTube shows the moment the pickup truck quickly came crashing into the back of the Nissan, sending a big cloud of debris into the air.
The car was completely destroyed on impact, with its roof and trunk broken off and the back seats smashed in, video showed.
The Nissan’s driver, a 44-year-old Murrieta woman, died at the scene, authorities said.
The impact from the crash was so powerful, it created a chain reaction effect that involved four other vehicles, including a Chevrolet S-10 Pickup truck that was forced off the roadway onto the Temecula City Hall parking lot where it collided with a structure. The driver, Mike Rivera-Aguilar, 38, sustained major injuries and was transported to a hospital, according to CHP.
Two other people, an Irvine man and a Mississippi man, sustained minor injuries and were transported to a hospital, CHP said.
Caldera was not injured in the crash, authorities said.
No further details were immediately available.