Update 03/09/25: The California Highway Patrol has provided an update to the story – identifying the cars and victims. 26 year-old Ashley Lua was driving the white 2017 Honda Civic sedan when the CHP says that she may have been experiencing a medical emergency prior to the crash.
The vehicle she initially struct is a 1997 Ford F-150 driven by 25 year-old Nathan Alvarez. After colliding with Alvarez, the Honda struck 38 year-old Jeffrey Lubin as he crossed Sunset Road on Hwy 62.
Lubin was taken to the hospital with major injuries, and Lua and Alvarez sustained minor injuries. The accident is still under investigation, though the CHP say Alcohol and/or drugs did not appear to be a factor.
Previously reported:
A vehicle collision occurred this morning in downtown Joshua Tree, resulting in a car spinning into the outdoor market outside JT Trading Post.
At approximately 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 8, a vehicle collision occurred near the intersection of Twentynine Palms Highway and Sunset Road in downtown Joshua Tree. A white sedan was driving east on Highway 62 in the wrong lane and struck a blue pickup truck; the white sedan spun out and crashed into several tents vending outside the Joshua Tree Trading Post.
Reporter Gabriel Hart spoke with eyewitness Hayley Berkebile of Yucca Valley, who was driving with her husband Spencer to the farmer’s market in Joshua Tree when they noticed a the white sedan driving erratically. Berkebile had called 911 and was reporting the vehicle when the collision occurred.
Hayley: “We were stopped at a red light, and the car in front of us wasn’t moving. My husband honked a couple of times; they started driving, and immediately they seemed pretty erratic, swerving in and out of lanes. They ran straight through the next red stoplight at Walmart. A few minutes after that I called 911 to report an erratic driver. As I was doing that, they were going full speed in the opposite lane on 62. It was just a couple minutes later that they hit the blue truck right across from the farmer’s market.”
Berkebile stated that the driver of the sedan had appeared to be unconscious and that children had appeared to be in the car, though neither were confirmed. A child’s cry could be heard coming from the scene.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) arrived on site shortly after the collision; at least two fire trucks, four Morongo Basin Sheriff’s deputies, and three ambulances were on site; several people could be seen being carried on stretchers. The white sedan had been towed by 10:00 a.m., and both lanes of traffic had been reopened.
Z107.7 has reached out to the California Highway Patrol for further details about the collision and the status of the victims. This story will continue to be updated as we receive more information.
