Crime & Safety

Roadway Suicide Suspected in Christmas Eve Death of Hemet Man

The roadway death of a Hemet man on Christmas Eve near Lake Skinner may have been a suicide, according to California Highway Patrol Temecula-area personnel.

The man who died, 18-year-old Antonio Mateo-Juan of Hemet, was struck by a sedan at Borel Road and Ashfield Lane and pronounced deceased at 11:44 p.m. Dec. 24, Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's personnel reported.

CHP personnel were dispatched to the scene at 11:28 p.m. Tuesday when a caller reported a collision involving a car and a pedestrian on the two-lane road in an unincorporated area south of Diamond Valley Lake and east of SR 79, according to a news release obtained Thursday.

The investigating officer determined a 60-year-old man was driving a 1992 Mercedes south on Borel at approximately 55 miles per hour when he saw a person lying across the road just ahead of him, according to the CHP.

The driver, a Temecula man, did not have time to avoid hitting the person, which resulted in multiple blunt force traumatic injuries to the person in the road as he was struck by the front of the Mercedes, according to the CHP.

"Physical evidence and witness statement suggest the actions of the pedestrian were deliberate," wrote the investigating CHP officer. "The incident is being investigated as a suicide."

On Thursday, coroner's officials identified the victim as Mateo-Juan.

Reported by Patch editor Maggie Avants


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