Bicyclist, motorcyclists killed in crashes identified

Authorities on Wednesday identified three men who were killed in two separate weekend crashes, one involving a motorcyclist and cyclist near Jamul, and one involving a motorcyclist near Santa Ysabel.

The first occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday on Otay Lakes Road near the Pio Pico RV Resort and Campground, where 43-year-old motorcyclist Jonathan Michael Charbonnet crashed into the back of a bicycle being ridden by Julius Cunanan, 40, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Cunanan was the last in a line of other cyclists who were riding east, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steven Toth told OnScene TV on Sunday. Charbonnet was also heading east, in a group with three friends heading to Tecate, when he came upon the cyclists and hit Cunanan.

Charbonnet and Cunana, both Chula Vista residents, were thrown to the ground and died at the scene, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

A little less than eight hours later, 51-year-old Matthew Thomas Huthmacher of Descanso and a companion he was riding with both lost control of their westbound motorcycles on state Route 78, east of state Route 79, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office and Highway Patrol.

Huthmacher’s motorcycle collided with an oncoming car near Slaughterhouse Road. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the site of the crash about 5:45 p.m., according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

The other motorcyclist suffered major injuries and was airlifted to a hospital, while the 71-year-old San Diego man driving the 2003 Ford Focus involved in the crash sustained minor injuries.