A Temecula woman was arrested about six hours after a hit-and-run accident Wednesday that killed a truck driver who had stopped alongside Interstate-15 to secure his load, the California Highway Patrol reported.
CHP Officer Jaci Parent said Lorena Gomez, 29, was taken into custody, about two hours after the Ford Ranger believed to have struck the victim was found abandoned along the shoulder of southbound I-15, some seven miles from the accident site.
"She returned to the (truck)," Parent said. "We don't know where she was or what she was doing in the meantime."
The trucker, 22, had pulled onto the shoulder of the southbound I-15, about a quarter mile south of Magnolia Avenue in Corona, around 4:30 Wednesday morning. He was strapping down cardboard boxes on his trailer when a vehicle struck him from behind, Parent said.
"He was thrown or dragged about 100 feet," she said. "There were tire marks on his back." Passers-by spotted the victim on the side of the road and called for help. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
