‘Out of a movie’: Sparks fly on 91 Freeway in Corona when motorcycle gets stuck to SUV
An SUV with a riderless motorcycle stuck to its front bumper hurtled along the 91 Freeway in Corona on Friday, June 19, as a stream of sparks erupted beneath the vehicles.
“It looked straight out of a movie, we could not believe it,” wrote videographer Will Panda, who posted the video to his YouTube channel.
The vehicle, traveling east, apparently exited at McKinley Street. The video concludes with shots of people gathered around the motorcycle and the bumper on nearby Sampson Avenue, and of the empty SUV stopped in a field after crashing into a fence.
The driver of the minivan, identified by the California Highway Patrol as 25-year-old George Cesar Valentin, was ultimately arrested after he entered the Corona Police Department and attempted to report the minivan stolen, CHP Officer Juan Quintero said.
CHP officers questioned Valentin, who ultimately admitted being the driver of the minivan during the collision, they said. He was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run driving.
The motorcyclist, a 37-year-old Jurupa Valley man, was ejected as a result of the collision and was found by officers on the right shoulder of the eastbound 91 Freeway near Main Street. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
CHP officers received multiple calls of the traffic collision about 8 p.m. Friday, Quintero said.
Investigators learned that the motorcyclist was directly in front of the minivan in the far right eastbound lane near Main Street in Corona when the collision occurred. The motorcycle was traveling about 65 miles per hour, while the minivan was traveling about 70 miles per hour, Quintero said.
The minivan struck the rear of the motorcycle, knocking the motorcyclist off while the driver of the minivan continued eastbound with the motorcycle still attached in front.
Witnesses followed the minivan, which exited at McKinley and entered into a Carl’s Jr. parking lot near the area of McKinley and Sampson Avenue. Valentin then drove westbound on Sampson Avenue at a high rate of speed. The motorcycle dislodged before the driver lost control and collided with a chain-link fence, Quintero said.
Valentin allegedly fled the crash on foot into a nearby drainage wash, where witnesses lost sight of him.
CHP officers received a call from the Corona Police Department about 11:45 p.m., advising that Valentin, the registered owner of the minivan, was attempting to report it stolen.