CHP: Woman eating burrito led to I-10 crash

Drivers were asked to avoid westbound Interstate 10 through North Palm Springs for a couple of hours Tuesday morning as crews worked to clear wreckage and debris from the roadway following a three-vehicle crash.

Just after 7 a.m., a Nissan Altima driven by 19-year-old Lucero Perez of Mecca was involved in two separate collisions, according to Officer Mike Radford with the California Highway Patrol.

The Altima drifted into the center divider and Perez overcorrected to the right, striking a Toyota Sequoia and then a Ford F-250. Radford said the F-250 overturned several times.

Cathedral City resident Osvaldo Barragan-Pedemonte , 41, was driving the truck. He became pinned in his vehicle after it came to a rest in the roadway. Emergency crews were forced to cut open the vehicle and he was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries, according to the CHP.

Officers said two other people suffered minor injuries in the crash.

According to Radford, Perez was eating a burrito while behind the wheel so authorities believe distracted driving was to blame for the crash.

All westbound lanes, just east of Indian Canyon Drive, were closed to traffic for about an hour and a half. Traffic was squeezing around the crash scene, using the shoulder and part of the center median.

Radford said the left lane of the interstate was reopened by 8:30 a.m. and all lanes were back open by about 8:45 a.m.

Traffic was backed up for several miles throughout the morning.