Officials Wednesday released the names of two men and a woman killed in two separate motorcycle crashes Tuesday in Hacienda Heights and Monterey Park.
Both fatal crashes involved riders being thrown from motorcycles and subsequently being struck by big rigs, according to the California Highway Patrol. One of the involved big rigs left the scene and was being investigated as a hit-and-run.
Kenneth Carnero and his girlfriend Misty Quinones, both 20 and of Los Angeles, died in a crash at 11:03 a.m. on the transition road from the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway transition road to the westbound 10 (San Bernardino) Freeway in Monterey Park, according to CHP Officer Doris Peniche.
Quinones was a passenger on the 1998 Honda CBR 600 when Carnero attempted to pass vehicles along the right shoulder.
“He failed to negotiate the curve and lost control,” Peniche said. Both rider and passenger were thrown from the motorcycle, “and into the direct path of the tractor trailer wheels.”
Carnero and Quinones both died at the scene, officials said.
Investigators Wednesday continued seeking the big rig that ran over the couple, Peniche said. It was described as a gray box truck.
The investigation continued, she said. In the meantime, “We’re treating it as a hit-and-run.”
Anyone with information was asked to contact the East Los Angeles office of the CHP at 323-980-4600 during regular business hours. After hours, tipsters can reach the CHP at 800-835-5247.
Johannes Blankenhorn, 37, of Tujunga, died in a crash 20 minutes earlier on the westbound Pomona (60) Freeway, just west of the Barford Avenue pedestrian overcrossing in Hacienda Heights, California Highway Patrol Officer Matt Arnone said in a written statement.
Blankenhorn was riding a 1978 BMW R100 motorcycle at an unknown speed when he rear-ended a 2004 Lexus ES 330 that was slowing in front of him in the No. 2 lane, officials said.
“(Blankenhorn) was ejected off his motorcycle and into the path of (a big rig),” Arnone said. The truck had been driving next to the Lexus in the No. 3 traffic lane at about 60 mph.
“(Blankenhorn) was then run over by the tractor trailer,” he said.
Paramedics performed CPR on the rider, however he was pronounced dead from his injuries, Arnone said.
The 60 Freeway crash was being investigated by officers from the CHP’s Santa Fe Springs office.