Santa Ysabel - Boy Scouts, Fatal Traffic Accident
Last updated 6/13/2016 at 5:37am
Boy Scout Troop 59 from San Diego, were on their way to Borrego Springs Sat, June 11, when their Ford Expedition was involved in a deadly rollover crash near Lake Henshaw just outside Santa Ysabel.
According to Cal Fire and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials, at 9:13 a.m., the driver lost control of the SUV and slammed into a tree in a ditch in the northbound lane of State Route 79, about a half-mile south of State Route.
The driver’s SUV was carrying four passengers, including a 49-year-old San Diego man who was sitting in the front passenger seat, who officials confirmed was killed in the collision.
The passenger was the father of a Boy Scout also on the trip to Borrego Springs. Officials said the Ford Expedition was one of many vehicles in a caravan line as the Boy Scout troop headed to Borrego Springs for a bicycling event.
“We had people running down to assist the folks almost immediately at the same time others were calling 911 to report the crash,” CHP officer Rob Tracy said. “We had others stopping their car and going down to help out, which we always appreciate.”
“Other Boy Scouts leaders and other boys were staying with him, just trying to reassure him,” Officer Tracy said. “It wasn’t until later, after his mother was contacted and came out to the scene that the news was broken to him. Our hats are off to the Boy Scouts. The leaders really were leaders and took great care of the boys.”
Two Boy Scouts – both 13 years old – were also hurt in the collision. The teens had been riding in the back of the Expedition when the vehicle rolled off the road. The teenagers were taken by medical helicopter to Rady Children’s Hospital.
