MURRIETA – An alleged impaired driver was arrested after he traveled several miles in the wrong direction on the I-215 Freeway, Wednesday, Nov. 16. The man finally stopped on his own when he encountered highway construction blocking his path.
Once the man stopped for the construction, “deputies were able to stop the suspect from driving away from that location and detained him,” according to CHP Public Information Officer Mike Lassig.
Officials later identified the driver as Cameron Michael Yancey, 28, of Oceanside. He was detained by deputies and turned over to CHP officers to conduct a DUI investigation and was subsequently arrested.
In a press release about the incident and arrest, Lassig explained, “Witnesses notified the California Highway Patrol Border Communications Dispatch Center of a wrong way driver traveling southbound on the northbound side of I-215, just north of Nuevo Road.”
According to Lassig, an alert Riverside County sheriff’s deputy first spotted the speeding wrong way driver about 11:42 a.m., in a 2007 Dodge Challenger, at the Ramona Expressway in Perris.
The deputy who first located the wrong way driver was driving southbound on the 215 freeway. The deputy radioed for assistance from other deputies and CHP officers in the area as he paralleled Yancey. During the dangerous incident, Yancey allegedly reached speeds up to 80 miles per hour.
The deputy used his PA system and hand gestures to make contact with Yancey; however, the intoxicated man refused to pull over or stop, Lassig explained.
CHP officers and other deputies soon joined the first deputy, as they continued trying to get Yancey to stop and intercept him before he could cause an accident.
Yancey eventually stopped about 12:10 p.m., underneath the Newport Road bridge.
“As the suspect vehicle approached the Newport Road over-crossing in Menifee, the vehicle was unable to continue in the center divider due to construction,” Lassig said. “RSO deputies were able to stop the suspect from driving away from that location and detained him.”
“CHP arrived on scene and observed the suspect had objective signs and symptoms of intoxication,” Lassig said. “Following an investigation for DUI, CHP arrested the driver at approximately 12:10 p.m.”
A jail records search indicated Yancey was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. He was released from jail a few hours later with a citation to appear Southwest Justice Center Jan. 17, 2017.
No one was injured during the wrong-way driving incident.
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