Off-duty Buena Park police officer killed in collision on 91 Freeway in Corona

An off-duty Buena Park police officer was killed Saturday morning, Sept. 28,  in a traffic collision on the 91 Freeway in Corona.

The officer was identified as Arthur Brice, 58, of Moreno Valley, said Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Deputy Robyn Flores. A procession carrying his body left Riverside Community Hospital for the Riverside County Coroner’s Office in Perris about noon.

The crash involving a tractor-trailer and a sedan in the eastbound lanes, near South Promenade Avenue, occurred a little after 5 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported.

The trailer of a big rig detached and came to a stop in the second lane from the left, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver of the tractor-trailer pulled to a stop and called CHP Dispatch.

A minute later, the off-duty officer approached in his sedan in the same lane, while another big rig was traveling next to him in the lane to his right. The officer’s car hit the back of the disabled trailer and then spun to the right where it hit the second tractor-trailer, the CHP said.

The driver of the car, later identified as Brice, became trapped in his vehicle, and emergency workers had to extricate him. He later died from his injuries at Riverside Community Hospital.

Drugs and alcohol were not suspected to be contributing factors in the crash, the CHP said.

Brice had worked at the department for the past 11 years. The Buena Park City Council honored Brice for a decade of service in February 2018. Brice is seen in the center in a post on the Police Department’s Facebook page.

This story is developing. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Staff writer Jonah Valdez and City News Service contributed to this report.