VICTIMS, CIRCUMSTANCES, OF THURSDAY FATAL MOTORCYCLE CRASHES RELEASED

The Riverside County Coroner and CHP investigators have released the victims’ names and the circumstances of two motorcycle crashes on the Morongo Grade Thursday night. Blake Creel, from Tallahassee, Florida, a 20-year-old Marine Lance Corporal with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines in Twentynine Palms, was pronounced deceased at Desert Regional Medical Center at 7:24 p.m. The second rider, 20-year-old Jared Patrick, also a lance corporal with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, was taken to the hospital with major injuries. The crash happened on the Morongo Grade, just north of Desert Hot Springs at 6:39 p.m. CHP Investigators said Creel was riding a Yamaha R6 westbound on Highway 62 in the right lane when he traveled off the roadway to the right, striking a guard rail. Creel was thrown from the motorcycle, which overturned and then bounced back into the middle of the highway. Patrick was riding a Yamaha FZ-07 in the left lane behind Creel. He was seriously injured after his bike struck the Yamaha R6 as it was lying on its side in the middle of the road. Patrick was also thrown from his motorcycle, which flipped over the concrete barrier into the eastbound lanes. Both men were taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs where Creel died. Patrick was recovering at the hospital. The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation. All lanes of Highway 62 were reopened about two hours after the crash Thursday night.