Authorities say a Long Beach teenager died last week when the SUV he was driving crashed into a telephone pole adjacent to a Temecula highway.
Preston Obeidin, 19, of Long Beach, was killed in the crash that happened on Highway 79, south of Anza Road, shortly after 7:25 a.m. on April 13, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Obeidin was driving a 1998 Toyota 4Runner northbound on the highway “at an undetermined speed” when, for unknown reasons, he swerved into the opposite lane, then overcorrected and lost control of the SUV, CHP Officer Mike Lassig said.
The SUV then went back into the opposing lane and continued onto a dirt shoulder area, where it crashed into a telephone pole and overturned, coming to a rest on its roof, Lassig said.
Obeidin was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other people were hurt in the crash.
Firefighters extricated a 19-year-old man from the rear middle seat of the SUV and took him to a hospital for treatment of major injuries, Lassig said. That victim was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the CHP.
Another 19-year-old man in the front passenger seat was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Lassig said.
As of Monday afternoon, a GoFundMe set up for Obeidin’s family had raised $27,504 toward its $50,000 goal.
Obeidin was “a radiant light in the lives of everyone who knew him,” Jude Hockenberger, the fundraiser’s organizer, wrote.
“No one ever had a bad word to say about him,” Hockenberger wrote. “He brought people together with ease, always the most positive person in the room.”