The CHP has released preliminary information on a crash between a military Humvee and a civilian car that killed a Yucca Valley woman Friday afternoon. Investigators say at about 3:30, active-duty Marine Juan Lira, 19, was driving a Humvee in a military convoy east at about at about 30-45 miles per hour when he allowed the heavy military vehicle to drift to the left, into the westbound lane, where the front wheel of the Humvee struck the left side of a 2010 Ford driven by Kristen Thrawl, 26, of Yucca Valley. The impact caused both vehicles to end up on the shoulder of the north side of the highway; Thrawl’s car overturned, landing on its roof; the Humvee rolled over onto its right side. Kristen Thrawl sustained major head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene; Lira was not injured. Traffic was diverted around the scene for about 2 hours. At the crash site, overzealous military police, out of their jurisdiction, tried to confiscate one Z107.7 reporter’s camera, and tried to order another away from the scene. Civilian law enforcement accommodated the reporters. Military police also took positions out on the highway, ordering passing civilian drivers not to take pictures.
