Impaled Crash Victim From Calimesa Recovering, Father Accused of DUI

A 17-year-old boy who was impaled by a fence pole in a crash Sunday night in Calimesa was recovering Tuesday, and his father was behind bars on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and child endangerment, authorities said.

Steven Thomas Murphy, 53, of Calimesa, was locked up Tuesday at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino and held in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to inmate records.

San Bernardino County sheriff's officials gave the following account:

On Sunday, Aug. 21, Yucaipa deputies responded to assist Riverside County deputies who conducted a traffic stop on Avenue L in Calimesa.

Murphy had been driving his vehicle south on Bryant Street heading towards Avenue H from Wildwood Canyon with his 17-year-old son in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, Yucaipa deputies said.

As Murphy "exited the wash area on Bryant near the Yucaipa Equestrian Center, he lost control of his vehicle, drove over the west curb and struck a chain link fence and posts which runs along the roadway," Yucaipa deputies said in a statement.

Murphy did not stop and continued driving with the right side of his vehicle on the dirt shoulder, Yucaipa deputies said.

In doing so, Murphy continued to run over the chain link fence, crushing approximately 40 feet of fencing, Yucaipa deputies said. Murphy regained control of his vehicle and returned onto Bryant Street, continuing south towards County Line Road.

"At some point, he realized he had been involved in an accident because the top horizontal support tubing attached to the fence he had destroyed had gone through the passenger side of the windshield and impaled the juvenile passenger's right shoulder," Yucaipa deputies said.

About 35 feet of the tubing had been torn away from the fence with about 15 feet of it going completely through the victim's shoulder, exiting the back of the passenger seat and out the rear window of Murphy's vehicle, Yucaipa deputies said.

"Murphy continued driving with the fencing and tubing hanging from his vehicle but was followed by witnesses to Ave L in Calimesa," Yucaipa deputies said.

Witnesses called law enforcement and stood by until they arrived. When Riverside County deputies determined the collision had occurred in San Bernardino County, they requested assistance from Yucaipa deputies.

Murphy was contacted by Yucaipa deputies at the scene, and he was arrested without incident, transported and booked at the Central Detention Center on suspicion of Felony DUI and PC 273a Child Endangerment, Yucaipa deputies said.

The victim, whose name was not released, was treated at the scene by fire personnel and taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center in stable condition, Yucaipa deputies said.

Cal Fire-Riverside County officials gave the following account of the incident:

 A victim in a single-vehicle crash in Calimesa was "trapped and impaled through the shoulder and chest by a fence pole" when firefighters first arrived Sunday night, according to Cal Fire.

The crash was reported about 10:20 p.m. Sunday on Barnes Court, near California Street and Avenue L in Calimesa, Cal Fire-Riverside County spokeswoman Melody Hendrickson said.

The patient was freed by about 10:45 p.m. and transported to a hospital in critical condition, Hendickson said.

An engineer at Station 21 in Calimesa said Monday morning he'd heard the fence pole was about 1-inch diameter, and the patient was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center.