Press Releases

On Saturday, July 11, 2020, at approximately 9:00 PM, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Palm Desert Station, responded to a report of a traffic collision involving two vehicles at the intersection of Portola Avenue and Gerald Ford Drive, Palm Desert. Upon the deputy’s arrival they discovered a 51-year-old Hispanic male from Coachella had been ejected from his vehicle and suffered major injuries. The male was treated by emergency medical personnel and transported to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. 

The driver of the second vehicle, a 32-year-old female of Palm Desert and her 30-year-old male passenger of Southgate, suffered serious injuries as a result of the collision and were also transported to local hospital for treatment. Both the female and her passenger are expected to survive.

The preliminary investigation indicates the deceased male was driving a 1990 Jeep east bound on Gerald Ford Drive, while the female was driving a 2019 Honda traveling north bound on Portola Avenue when both vehicles collided in the intersection. The force of the collision caused the driver of the jeep to be ejected from his vehicle. The cause of this collision is still under investigation, but alcohol may be a factor.

The identity of the deceased will be released by the coroner’s office once positive identification can be established, and next of kin can be notified. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Deputy Nicole Wilhite of the Palm Desert Station’s Traffic Team at (760) 836-1600 or call anonymously at (760) 341-STOP (7867) and reference incident #T201930074.