Crime & Safety
Freeway Worker From Beaumont Critically Injured in Riverside, Driver Arrested on Suspicion of DUI
Barry Steele, 52, of Beaumont, was struck late Wednesday in a construction zone on the closed Van Buren Boulevard on-ramp to the westbound 91 Freeway, Terri Kasinga of Caltrans District 8 said.
A freeway worker from Beaumont was critically injured late Wednesday when he was struck in a closed construction zone on a ramp to State Route 91 in Riverside, Caltrans and California Highway Patrol officials said Thursday.
Barry Steele, 52, of Beaumont, was struck about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday by a motorist allegedly driving under the influence, on the Van Buren Boulevard on-ramp to the westbound 91, CHP Officer Sylvia Vargas said.
Steele remained hospitalized in critical condition, Vargas said Wednesday afternoon.
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The driver, Brandi Holmes, 21, of Riverside, allegedly drove through cones and other barriers before her vehicle struck Steele, Vargas said.
"They had cones, lights, barriers, everything," Vargas said.
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Holmes was hospitalized with moderate injuries and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, Vargas said.
Steele was not a Caltrans worker, but state transportation officials were concerned by the incident because three Caltrans workers have been killed in the past three months in San Diego County, said Terri Kasinga of Caltrans District 8.
Steele was working for a company called Skanska, contracted on the ramp project by the city of Riverside, Kasinga said.
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