Wreckage littered parts of Highway 67 on Monday night and early Tuesday after two people died in separate traffic crashes in the Ramona area, authorities said.

They said a four-vehicle collision just before 9 p.m. west of the rural community claimed the life of 22-year-old Amy Marie Kortlang of Ramona and injured four people, including the suspected hit-and-run driver.

California Highway Patrol officers and sheriff's deputies later arrested Ramona resident Rafael Perez, also 22, on suspicion of murder, felony driving under the influence and felony hit-and-run, said Officer Brian Pennings, Highway Patrol spokesman.


"He has quite a substantial record for previous DUIs," Pennings said. "He does not have a license."

About four hours after the first crash, authorities said, 42-year-old Frank S. Eskins of San Diego died when his white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck smashed into a eucalyptus tree near South Hunter Street in Ramona.

"Witnesses said that he had difficulty keeping his vehicle in the lanes," Pennings said.

He said the Highway Patrol will rely on the autopsy, particularly the toxicology report, to help determine the cause of the crash.

Mark Lewan, a Ramona firefighter engineer and paramedic who worked both crashes, said the fatal collisions were unusual on that rural stretch of the highway.

"It was just a fluke thing," Lewan said.

He said firefighters worked quickly to find all the victims after the first crash about 8:50 p.m. in a dark area south of Mussey Grade Road.

Witnesses said a Ford 150 pickup truck traveling north at a high rate of speed was crossing over double yellow lines, Pennings said. He said Perez is an employee at a construction company that owns the truck.

The officer said the pickup veered into the opposite lane and sideswiped an oncoming Dodge Caliber before slamming head-on into the red Honda Civic that Kortlang drove.

"Unfortunately, she sustained fatal injuries," he said. "The Honda overturned."

Pennings said a Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle then struck the Dodge. Meanwhile, he said, the truck driver got out and ran.

Authorities shut down the highway for at least three hours between Archie Moore and Highland Valley roads to help victims, investigate the crash and remove debris.

A Mercy Air helicopter flew a female passenger in the Dodge to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Lewan said.

That woman, whose name wasn't available; Dodge driver Ernesto Ochoa, 29, of Spring Valley; and the Explorer driver, Gabriel Garcia, 24, of Ramona, suffered minor to moderate injuries, officials said.

Pennings said about midnight Perez was found walking beside Highway 67 about two miles north of the crash.

Paramedics treated Perez before he was booked into San Diego Central Jail, where he was being held without bail pending a Thursday court appearance in El Cajon.

"He had minor injuries, a little bit of shoulder pain," Lewan said.

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