18-year-old dies after losing control of car on Riverside County highway during rainstorm, police say

An 18-year-old man died on Sunday after losing control of his car and crashing on Highway 74 in Riverside County, according to the California Highway Patrol. 

The crash happened a little after 6 a.m. on westbound lanes of the 74, just west of Four Seasons Boulevard in the Green Acres community near Hemet, police said. 

The victim, since identified as Winchester resident Hector Gonzalez, was driving a 2004 Lexus at a "high rate of speed during rain showers when he lost control" of the car and failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway, according to CHP's news release. 

As a result, the car overturned and collided with a raised curb on the north edge of the highway before rolling off the corridor and crashing into a tree, police said. 

"The force of the impact caused the vehicle to split in half," CHP officers said. 

Gonzalez was not believed to have been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. He was taken to the Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was pronounced dead about an hour after arrival. 

Officers said that autopsy results were still pending and that they were waiting to determine if drugs or alcohol were factors in the incident.