Coroner IDs 19-Year-Old Killed In Palm Drive Crash, 1 Other Injured

CATHEDRAL CITY, CA — A 19-year-old man who died when he was ejected from a vehicle that crashed into a Cathedral City electrical pole was identified Wednesday.

He was identified by the Riverside County coroner's office as Rodolfo Arellano of Cathedral City.

Officers responded at 6:23 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a single- vehicle collision on the shoulder of eastbound Varner Road near Palm Drive, according to Cathedral City Police Department Sgt. Rudy Castro.

Castro said officers found that a vehicle had collided with an electrical pole and two occupants were ejected.

Cathedral City Fire Department paramedics pronounced Arellano dead on the scene, according to Castro. The second occupant, who sustained critical injuries, was taken to the Desert Regional Medical Center and remains there in critical condition.

"Due to both occupants being ejected from the vehicle, Officers were unable to determine which occupant was driving the vehicle during the collision," Castro wrote in a statement. "The exact cause of the collision is still under investigation, but it appears that speed was a factor."

Anyone with information on the crash was asked to call the police department at 760-770-0300.