The six people injured, including at least two children, in a crash that also killed a man along the 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar early Sunday morning have been identified by California High Patrol officials.
The six injured have been identified by CHP as a 1-year-old infant girl named Abby Franco, a 9-year-old boy named Jada Franco and 30-year-old Melissa Murga — who are all Pomona residents — along with 31-year-old Ashley Stevens and 32-year-old John Swick of Hesperia. The sixth person was only described by CHP as “E. Franco.”
The identity of the man killed has still not been released, with officials only referring to him as 29-year-old “John Doe.”
At least three vehicles were involved in the collision, and the driver of one of the cars fled the scene before authorities could arrive, according to CHP Sgt. Matthew Lentz.
The crash occurred just after 3 a.m. near the interchange with the 57 Freeway, officials said.
After getting into a prior traffic collision, a 2001 Chevrolet Impala driven by Murga was stopped and disabled in the carpool lane of the eastbound 60 Freeway just west of Diamond Bar, officials said.
Swick, driving a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck in the same carpool lane, was going “at an unsafe speed for existing traffic conditions” when the truck slammed into the back of the stopped Impala, CHP officials said in a news release.
Right when that crash happened, two people inside the Impala — the man killed and the baby girl — had removed their seat belts and were in the process of getting out of the car, officials said. Upon impact, the Impala overturned and Murga, the man killed and the baby girl were all ejected from the vehicle.
The man who died was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Murga and the baby both suffered major injuries.
The other people inside the Impala, the 9-year-old boy and another passenger CHP officials referred to as E. Franco, suffered minor injuries, officials said. The passenger in Swick’s truck suffered major injuries while he suffered minor injuries.
Witnesses told the CHP that the driver of a dark-colored Honda CRV who abandoned his car on the freeway and left on foot was seen speeding and driving erratically a short time before. Officers were “actively looking for that individual,” Lentz said.
CHP officials previously said two children and two adults, including the man killed, were inside a Chevy Malibu.
The eastbound lanes of the freeway were shut down for a time Sunday morning but reopened around 7 a.m.
CHP is still investigating the crash and no further details are immediately available.