Man Killed In Temecula Crash Identified As San Diego Sheriff's Deputy
TEMECULA (CBSLA) — A man killed in a solo rollover crash in Temecula was identified Monday as a San Diego sheriff's deputy.
Matthew Creed, 32, was pronounced dead immediately after the Saturday morning crash on De Portola Road, just east of Calle Arboles. Deputies first on the scene found a white Ford F150 overturned and on fire.
Creed, who was off-duty, was found in the street unresponsive with obvious signs of trauma. A preliminary investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department determined the truck was travelling at a high rate of speed east on De Portola Road when it struck the center median curb, rolled over, and landed on its roof in eastbound lanes, where it caught fire.
Creed, who lived in Temecula, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three minors were rescued from the truck and taken to a hospital for medical evaluation and treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
Riverside County sheriff's officials did not say how the children were related to Creed, but a GoFundMe page said that the deputy left behind a wife and three young children, ages 4, 3 and 9 months old.
A Facebook post from the Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego County said Creed had been "tragically killed in an off-duty accident on Saturday, January 11." It went on urge the page's followers to keep his family in their thoughts and prayers and consider making a donation to help his family.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Creed had been with the department as a detentions deputy for more than seven years.
It's been a tough week for the Southern California law enforcement community this week, who are also mourning Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Amber Leist. She was killed in a crash Sunday after helping a woman who had fallen across the street in Valley Village.