Two Hesperia residents and one Helendale resident have been identified as the victims in separate car crashes in the High Desert last week.
Hesperia residents Andrew Fabricio Valdez and Raul Carrillo Luna, ages 22 and 43, and Helendale resident Alexander Saldana, 44, died at the scene of crashes near their homes, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Coroner Division.
Valdez and Luna died after crashing into each other near the intersection of Sequoia Street and Cottonwood Avenue in Hesperia around 7:20 p.m. Oct. 16, according to the coroner. Sheriff’s officers declared Luna dead at 7:34 p.m. and Valdez, who drove a motorcycle, dead at 7:36 p.m.
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Saldana died after a traffic collision in “a desert area west of Highway 395, south of Highway 58 in Kramer Junction” shortly before 8:30 a.m. Oct. 19, per the coroner. California Highway Patrol officers responded to the scene of that crash.
CHP and the Sheriff’s Department didn’t immediately respond Sunday to requests for further information.
Charlie McGee covers California’s High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with The GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.
