Victims killed in six recent traffic crashes identified

Authorities have publicly identified six people who lost their lives in recent weeks to San Diego County traffic crashes.

The most recent of the roadway fatalities took place shortly before 10 p.m. last Thursday, when Alyssha Karup-Joseph, 38, of San Diego was ejected from a vehicle that crashed off Interstate 15 north of state Route 76 in Fallbrook and tumbled down an embankment, according to the county Medical Examiner’s Office. Paramedics took Karup-Joseph to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where she was pronounced dead the following morning, the agency reported.

About 6:40 p.m. last Wednesday, Jad Farner, 23, of Oceanside was fatally injured when the motorcycle he was riding crashed into an SUV that was stopped in a left-turn lane on North Melrose Drive in Vista, according to the medical examiner. Farner died at the scene.

A day earlier, a crash on state Route 163 in Linda Vista mortally injured a motorist. Santos Griego, 47, was heading south shortly before 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 when the BMW 850i he was driving veered off the freeway near Friars Road, struck a tree and caught fire, according to the medical examiner and the California Highway Patrol. An ambulance crew took Griego to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

About 10:45 p.m. on Oct. 26, Michael Almedina of San Diego was riding a motorcycle that collided with a sedan at Balboa and Eckstrom avenues in Clairemont, the county agency reported. Medics took Almedina, 32, to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Shortly before 4:30 a.m. that same day, Roberto Jimenez Jr. 26, of San Diego was mortally injured in a hit-and-run crash on state Route 125 in La Mesa, according to the medical examiner and CHP. Jimenez was a passenger in a northbound 2023 Nissan Sentra that veered off SR-125 near Spring Street and struck a 2007 Mercedes-Benz E350 parked on the right-hand shoulder, the CHP reported.

Following the impact, the driver of the Nissan fled on foot, according to the state agency. Jimenez died at the scene.

On Oct. 23, a hospitalized San Bernardino County man succumbed to injuries he had suffered nearly a month earlier in a traffic crash, the medical examiner reported. On Sept. 28, Jesus Contreras, 54, of Apple Valley was gravely injured when the Honda sedan he was driving collided with an SUV on state Route 76, east of Magee Road in the Pala area. Paramedics took him to Palomar Medical Center, where he died 25 days later.

Contreras’ wife, who was riding in the Honda at the time of the wreck, died at the scene of the accident, according to the county agency. Her name has not been released.