Five people were injured in two related crashes in Morongo Valley Saturday afternoon. Shortly before noon, James Foreman, 53, of Joshua Tree, was driving a 2009 Nissan Versa westbound on Highway 62 when for unknown reasons, he lost control of his car going down the Morongo Grade. The car traveled up the dirt embankment and then overturned, landing on its roof blocking the number 2 lane of the highway. Foreman, his wife Barbar Foreman, 51, and Sarah Foreman, 16, and Carrie Foreman, 14, were all taken to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs with minor injuries.
In the ensuing back up caused by the crash, Angela Ovnicek, 33, of Twentynine Palms was driving her 2015 Honda Fit, Rachel Torrence, 34, of Desert Hot Springs was driving a 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan behind Ovnicek, Geffrey Brake Jr, 19, of Mauk, Georgia, was driving a 2006 Ford F-350 behind Torrence, and Derrick Tarrant, 40, of Yucca Valley was riding a 2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle behind Brake. Ovnicek and Torrence slowed to a stop near the collision. Brake collided with the rear of Torrence’s Volkswagen, which was pushed forward into the rear of the Honda. Tarrant then collided with the rear of Brake’s truck, and he was thrown about 10 feet from his motorcycle. As a result of the second collision, all westbound lanes of Highway 62 were blocked for about 15 minutes. Tarrant suffered major injuries and was taken by Morongo Basin Ambulance to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs.
