Santa Ana man, 61, killed in pickup crash south of Thermal
A 61-year-old Santa Ana man died when the pickup truck he was driving went off the road and overturned near Thermal on Sunday, the California Highway Patrol said.
The crash occurred southeast of Thermal on Grapefruit Boulevard just south of Avenue 58 around 12:45 p.m., Officer David Torres said.
The man, identified by the Riverside County coroner as Romulo Lippel, was driving a Ford F-250 north on Grapefruit Boulevard when the truck went off the right side of the road and came to a rest on its roof. Lippel was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman who was a passenger in the truck was transported to the hospital with what were described as moderate injuries.
Both the man and woman were wearing seatbelts, Torres said. Investigators had not determined whether alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash.
Lippel was the second to die in a crash in the vicinity of Thermal in a five-day period. On Wednesday, a 27-year-old Thermal man was killed after crashing into a power pole while driving along Airport Boulevard east of Tyler Street in Coachella. The county coroner has not released that man's identity.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Man, Romulo Lippel, dies after pickup crashes near Thermal on Sunday
