Man ID'd In Deadly Ortega Highway Crash

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Officials on Tuesday publicly identified a man who died in a crash in the Lake Elsinore area. The man was involved in a head-on crash while riding a motorcycle on SR-74, known as the Ortega Highway.

The Riverside County coroner's office says Lake Elsinore resident Jaime Curiel died just minutes after the Monday afternoon crash. He was 37.

Curiel was described as "an amazing dad and a kind-hearted person" on a GoFundMe page set up to help cover funeral expenses.

"The world will be darker and heaven gained an angel," the page says. "However he left behind on Earth his children and fiance."

Click here if you'd like to donate.

California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Lassig says a man in a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer was driving westbound on the roadway, while Curiel was headed eastbound, about two miles west of Grand Avenue.

"The motorcyclist was traveling eastbound at a high rate of speed exiting the curve in the roadway... at the same time the driver of the Mitsubishi was turning left into his driveway. The two vehicles collided into each other head-on. "

The Temecula Area CHP office is investigating the crash.

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