FALLBROOK, Calif. (CNS) - A 38-year-old motorist died Tuesday in a predawn pileup caused by a DUI suspect driving the wrong way on Interstate 15 in the far northern reaches of the San Diego area, authorities reported.
Marcelo Bejarano of Escondido was fatally injured shortly before 12:30 a.m. when the car he was driving was struck by an SUV traveling to the north on the southbound side of the freeway near state Route 76 in Fallbrook, according to the California Highway Patrol and San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Bejarano died at the scene of the wreck, which also involved several other vehicles, officials said.
The suspected intoxicated motorist whose Ford Escape collided head-on with Bejarano's Honda Accord was taken to a hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries, according to the Fallbrook & Bonsall Village News.
No other injuries were immediately reported.
The pileup forced a several-hour closure of the southbound side of the freeway, according to the CHP.
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