Drugs, alcohol not a factor in deadly Morongo Valley crash

MORONGO VALLEY Drugs or alcohol did not contribute to a deadly crash in Morongo Valley Sunday afternoon, the California Highway Patrols Morongo Basin office said Monday.

John Ogie, 49, of Yucca Valley, was killed and two more people were hurt in the three-vehicle collision on Twentynine Palms Highway just east of Rawson Road at 4:10 p.m. Sunday.

Ogies Kia Soul was struck head-on by a Mitsubishi Montero driven by Robert Minjarez, 38, of Morongo Valley.

Ogie was trapped in his vehicle and firefighters had to free him to render medical aid.

It took firefighters 39 minutes to stabilize the vehicle and remove the occupant, who was in critical condition. Two sets of Jaws of Life were utilized to cut and remove the entangled metal of the vehicle during the extensive extrication, Capt. Chris Nichols with Morongo Valley Fire wrote in a news release Monday.

According to the CHP, Minjarez was driving eastbound in the fast lane of the highway when his vehicle veered into the westbound lanes, striking a Honda CRX driven by Len Slash, 52, of Morongo Valley.

Slash was in the westbound slow lane, turning right onto Rawson Road. Ogie was in the same lane behind him.

The impact spun Slash's vehicle until it came to a stop in the slow lane. Minjarez's vehicle proceeded in the wrong direction in the westbound lane, hitting Ogies vehicle head-on.

Both vehicles were overturned on the north shoulder of the highway. Minjarez and Ogie were taken by ambulance to Desert Regional Medical Center with major injuries. Slash was also taken to the same hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

We did test (Minjarez) for drugs and alcohol and the test results came back negative, Officer Aaron Lowe of the Morongo Basin CHP station said Monday.

Originally posted here:
Drugs, alcohol not a factor in deadly Morongo Valley crash