DRIVER DIES AFTER VEHICLE STRIKES TREE

A 52-year-old driver died after his car veered off the road and struck a tree in Encinitas Friday evening, sheriff ’s officials said.

The man was headed north on North Coast Highway 101 about 5 p.m. when he crashed south of La Costa Avenue, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Deputies and paramedics tried to save the injured driver, but he died before he could be taken to a hospital, sheriff’s officials said. The man’s identity is known, but it’s being withheld until his family can be notified.

It’s unclear if alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash. Anyone who saw the collision was asked to call the North Coastal sheriff’s substation’s Traffic Division at (760) 966-3500.

Inmate investigated for role in fatal stabbing

A 33-year-old inmate at Kern Valley State Prison north of Bakersfield is being investigated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for allegedly fatally stabbing another inmate with a weapon made in prison.

Luis Alvidrez, from San Diego County, is said to have participated alongside 57year-old Roland Corona of Fresno County in the Oct. 14 attack of 41-year-old Isaac Duran from Tulare County, according to a news release issued Saturday by the Department of Corrections.

Duran, who was serving a life sentence for attempted murder, died Thursday night at Kern Medical Center. His official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Kern Valley State Prison’s investigative unit and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the incident, the release said. The suspects have been moved to restrictive housing.

Received from San Diego County on June 1, 2017, Alvidrez is currently serving an 18-year, four-month sentence for several counts of second-degree robbery. While in prison, he was also sentenced to five years for possessing and manufacturing a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.