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Fallbrook Resident Killed in Three-Vehicle Crash in Meadowbrook

MEADOWBROOK - A Meadowbrook wreck that killed a 26-year-old man was caused by a motorist who pulled into traffic after leaving a roadside market, authorities said today.

Nieto Ruiz of Fallbrook died shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday on Highway 74, near Ethanac Road, just east of Lake Elsinore. According to the California Highway Patrol, Ruiz was driving a 2017 Honda Civic westbound on Highway 74, approaching the Guadalupana Produce Market, at 55 mph seconds before the impact.

Officer Mike Lassig said 28-year-old Shaunice Denton of Moreno Valley exited the market parking lot in her 2018 Mercedes-Benz Metris van, apparently without noticing a Toyota Camry headed toward her as she attempted to enter the eastbound lane. ``The driver of the Toyota attempted to make an evasive maneuver toward the left in an attempt to avoid the Mercedes,'' Lassig said.

``The vehicles collided in the eastbound traffic lane. The Toyota continued to the left before colliding head-on with the Honda in the westbound lane." Riverside County Fire Department crews reached the location within a few minutes and pronounced Ruiz dead at the scene. Lassig said Denton was not injured, but the driver of the Toyota, 19- year-old Eduardo Avila of Perris, suffered major injuries and was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where he remains in serious but stable condition.

CHP officers shut down both sides of the highway to conduct a preliminary investigation and clear the wreckage. All lanes were reopened about three hours later. Lassig said the investigation is ongoing.

Copyright 2021, City News Service, Inc.

 

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