Redlands Teen Arrested for Murder After Fatal High-Speed Crash in Downtown Riverside
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Photo by Lone Wolf News: Emergency personnel respond to a multi-vehicle crash involving a black Dodge Challenger on 6th Street in downtown Riverside, where one man was killed and several others injured.
A 19-year-old Redlands man was arrested Wednesday evening after allegedly causing a high-speed, multi-vehicle crash in downtown Riverside that killed a 37-year-old local man and injured five others, according to the Riverside Police Department.
The collision occurred at approximately 6:20 p.m. on April 16 along Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Officers responding to the scene located four damaged vehicles and several injured occupants. The driver of a black Dodge Challenger, later identified as Isaac Isaiah Villalba, reportedly attempted to flee and violently resisted officers before being subdued and taken into custody.
Riverside Fire Department personnel provided medical aid at the scene. The most seriously injured was 37-year-old Christian Barragan of Riverside, who was driving a Honda Civic that was rear-ended by Villalba’s vehicle. Barragan was transported to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.
According to a preliminary investigation, Villalba was traveling southbound on Market Street at a high rate of speed when he struck Barragan’s vehicle, then continued forward and collided with another car before coming to a stop.
Villalba was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries sustained during the crash and arrest. He was later evaluated by a drug recognition expert from the Riverside Police Department. Upon medical clearance the following day, Villalba was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on multiple felony charges, including murder, felony hit and run causing injury or death, driving under the influence of drugs causing injury or death, and resisting arrest with violence.
“Detectives with our Major Accident Investigation Team, in collaboration with the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office, are thoroughly examining this case,” the department said in a statement.
Investigators believe witnesses may have observed Villalba’s vehicle driving erratically before the crash. Anyone with additional information or video footage is urged to contact Traffic Detective Matthew Parrish at MWParrish@RiversideCA.gov or (951) 353-7177.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the Riverside Police Department’s “Atlas 1” mobile app, available for download on Apple and Android devices.
