Fatal motorcycle accident leads to arrest
An 18-year-old Brawley man was booked into county jail on Wednesday for murder, after allegedly having led authorities on a highspeed chase and crash on Sunday that killed his female passenger.
Jose Alfredo Briseno is also alleged to have fled from California Highway Patrol officers on a previous occasion, CHP reported.
The victim, Vanessa Cera, is also alleged to have been Briseno’s passenger in that prior instance as well, CHP reported.
At around 1:20 a.m. Sunday, Briseno had allegedly fled from CHP officers as he and Cera were traveling southbound on Dogwood Road at Danenberg Road.
Officers attempted to perform a traffic stop on Briseno as a result of him and Cera allegedly matching the description of a motorcyclist and female passenger who had fled from authorities on an undisclosed previous date, CHP reported.
Briseno allegedly failed to heed the officers’ flashing lights and instead fled southbound on Dogwood Road at a speed in excess of 100 mph, a CHP accident report stated.
Briseno then reportedly turned eastbound onto Heber Road and allegedly ran through the red light at Highway 111, the CHP reported.
Continuing eastbound on Heber Road at speeds in excess of 100 mph, Briseno then turned north onto Bowker Road, where he allegedly again reached speeds in excess of 100 mph, CHP reported.
Pursuing officers eventually encountered Briseno’s crashed motorcycle on northbound Bowker Road north of McCabe Road.
“Briseno failed to negotiate the curve in the roadway and drove off the main paved portion of Bowker Road and onto the dirt shoulder,” the CHP accident report stated.
Although both Briseno and Cera were wearing their helmets, both sustained serious injuries and were subsequently flown via air ambulance to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
Cera subsequently succumbed to her injuries at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Cera’s name was withheld from the CHP accident report, but was publicized on the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office website. The CHP report states she was a resident of Heber, while the coroner’s announcement lists Brawley as her city of residence.
Briseno had reportedly been arrested by CHP for suspicion of murder on Sunday, remained hospitalized until Tuesday and was medically cleared to be incarcerated on Wednesday, the county Sheriff’s Office reported.
He is currently being held on a $1,000,000 bond, for suspicion of murder, fleeing a peace officer and causing injury or death, a misdemeanor, and fleeing a peace officer with disregard for public safety, a felony.
As of Thursday morning, the CHP was working on its report. Once completed it will be submitted to the county District Attorney’s Office for review for possible prosecution, stated Sgt. Wes Boerner.