A pedestrian and a motorcyclist killed in a chain-reaction crash on a freeway transition near downtown San Diego were identified on Saturday.
The pedestrian, Ronald Smith, 55 — believed to be a transient — was fatally struck by a 2003 Honda motorcycle in the first of the crashes on the connector from southbound Interstate 5 to state Route 94 shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Wil Dean Mann, the 28-year-old rider, was ejected onto the roadway and subsequently hit by a white 2015 Scion. Both died at the scene from blunt force injuries. Callers told the CHP the motorcycle was lying on the shoulder.
The driver of the Scion, an 80-year-old Jamul man, was seen on the side of state Route 94 near 28th Street a few minutes afterward checking his car as if it had hit something, according to the CHP. He was not injured in the crash.
The transition road was shut down for a time after the crash and a SigAlert was issued, authorities said.
— City News Service
