UPDATED: One Dead in Brookside Avenue Crash

Update 4:30 p.m.: 

More than two hours after a vehicle slammed into a cement pole killing the driver on site, emergency crews were working in the pouring rain to clear the area.

Beaumont Police Commander Sean Thuilliez tells Banning Beaumont Patch that a man died at the scene of the crash, which investigators believe is related to the recent downpours. 

"There was a vehicle traveling eastbound on Brookside Avenue, approaching Nancy, that lost control and crashed into a street light," he said.

An unidentified man and a minor were inside the vehicle at the time, according to Thuilliez.   Previous reports had indicated only one person was inside.

"The minor was not injured but was transported [to the hospital] as a precaution," he said.

Thuilliez said he did not know if the two were traveling to the nearby Brookside Elementary School, which is located just a block away.

As for the road closure in the area, the commander said that cleanup "will take several more hours."  The coroner had yet to arrive on scene as of 4 p.m.

Drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes and avoid Brookside Avenue.


Original story as follows: 

One person has died in a crash along Brookside Avenue, on the border of Cherry Valley and Beaumont, officials report.

Jennifer Fuhrman of the Riverside County Fire Department says a vehicle crashed into a pole at the intersection of Nancy Avenue, at around 2:17 p.m.

"The solo occupant of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene," she said. 

As of 3 p.m., Brookside remained closed in the area.
Additional details about the occupant were not immediately available. 

Banning-Beaumont Patch will continue to update this breaking news story as more details become available.