Man claiming to have been shot now under DUI investigation after crash in Rancho Mirage

A man suspected of a DUI crash on Tuesday night is now recovering in the hospital. The sheriff's office reported getting a call around 10:05 P.M. about the possible collision, which happened near Frank Sinatra Avenue and Monterey Avenue. When they arrived at the scene, they couldn't locate the driver, but they found his abandoned car crashed into a nearby fence. Deputies shut down the road temporarily to conduct an investigation.

At the scene, a passerby reached out to investigators and told them man was picked up by a different car a few minutes earlier. They later found that car speeding along the I-10 near Indian Canyon, and conducted a traffic stop.

During that stop, the driver told deputies the man was bleeding and claimed he had been shot.

After checking on the passenger, deputies determined he had a non-life-threatening injury, however, he was taken to a hospital for treatment. At the hospital, experts discovered the man's injury was inconsistent with a gunshot wound and that he was possibly under the influence of drugs.

The crash is now being investigated as a suspected DUI incident.