Wrong-Way Driver Dies in Freeway Crash
A wrong-way driver was killed when his car collided head-on with another car on the westbound Riverside Freeway in Buena Park, authorities said Tuesday.
The other driver was treated at a nearby hospital and later was released, California Highway Patrol officers said.
Richard Heeren, 35, of Chino, died at the scene of the accident in Buena Park Monday night, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. A spokeswoman said Heeren died of massive head and torso injuries.
John Wallace Matthews, 46, of Incline Village, Nevada, suffered a broken right foot and a large forehead cut when his car was struck by Heeren’s, CHP Officer Larry Kleasner said. He said it had not yet been determined if Heeren had been drinking.
Kleasner said the collision occurred at 9:45 p.m., near the Valley View Street freeway exit. Heeren was traveling in the lane closest to the freeway median when his car struck Matthews’ car, which was in the same lane.
A motorcyclist trying to avoid the collision lost control of his cycle and fell to the pavement, but was not injured, Kleasner said.
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