Monthly Archives: August 2015

At around 12:30 p.m. on August 6, 2015, an SUV crashed into the local Rancho Mirage Applebee’s restaurant at the height of the lunch hour. Luckily, no diners were injured as the SUV crashed through a wall that contained only unoccupied tables, according to police and as reported in The Desert Sun.

Deputy Armando Munoz reported that the driver of the SUV lost control of the vehicle and crashed through the wall of the Applebee’s in Rancho Mirage located at 71-740 Highway 111. The Riverside County Fire Department was called to the scene, but no one was injured in the incident. Munoz also reported that no drugs or alcohol were related to the crash.

Sunday, August 16, 2015 was the scene of a midair plane crash near the Brown Field Municipal Airport in San Diego that left five dead according to authorities and as reported online at ABC 7 News.

Besides leaving five people dead, the two small planes that were involved in the collision also left in its aftermath a brush fire in a remote field in southern San Diego County, only 1.5 miles from the Mexican border.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson, Ian Gregor, the midair collision occurred at about 11:00 a.m., 2 miles northeast of the Brown Field Municipal Airport.

The Cessna, carrying only the pilot on a cross-country trip and the Sabreliner, contracted by BAE Systems, a military contractor, was transporting four people when the midair crash occurred. BAE Systems confirmed that these employees were on the aircraft. Andrew Swick, National Transportation Safety Board investigator reported that the Cessna pilot was on a cross-country flight.

A man, now identified as John Lux, 50-year old resident from Victorville, was killed Saturday, August 1, 2015 in a traffic incident. The Victorville Daily Press reported the incident with information from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Coroner report.

This accident occurred in what is believed to be a failure of both drivers to yield at the Ranchero Road and Seventh Avenue intersection stop sign. The accident closed the intersection until 8:45 p.m. John Lux was a fatality in this accident.

According to local authorities, the crash was reported 2:45 p.m. John Lux was driving a silver Infinity G35 and the other driver was driving a GMC Arcadia.

First responders to the accident rolled onto the scene at around 2:56 p.m. where they found Lux unresponsive and with major injuries. He was transported to Desert Valley Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The unthinkable happened on July 15, 2015 when an elevated section of the I-10 freeway collapsed on Sunday under the pressure of heavy rains. This incident cut off traffic between California and Arizona and left one driver injured.

Desert Center is home to the Tex Wash Bridge, which is used to travel between California and Arizona. Normally, this area, just west of the Arizona state line, is high and dry, but on this day, heavy rains and flooding created wet conditions causing the bridge section to snap and collapse, according to the California Highway Patrol and reported by NBC Los Angeles.

The collapse caused one pickup truck driver to crash, causing moderate injuries. According to the Riverside County Fire Department, the driver was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The passenger from the same pickup truck was uninjured and able to exit the truck without assistance.