Driver Who Crashed His SUV Arrested By CHP

A Desert Hot Springs man crashed an SUV and fled the scene with his injured passenger, but was found nearby and arrested today for suspicion of drunken driving, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

The crash was reported at 5:15 a.m. on Varner Road west of Cook Street, and alongside Interstate 10 in Thousand Palms, said CHP Officer Ramon Perez.

Officers found a 1997 Ford SUV on its roof and blocking traffic near the freeway, but no one was inside the wreck or near it, Perez said.

Officers determined that the SUV had swerved off the nearby freeway, careened through a fence and flipped onto Varner Road.

Riverside County deputies found the driver of the SUV not far away. Adam Swaim, 26, was also wanted on a felony narcotics warrant, according to Perez.

A 20-year-old woman who had been a passenger in the SUV was also found by deputies. She was hospitalized with what CHP officers said were moderate injuries.

Swaim was subsequently booked into the Indio Jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and drunken driving, and the narcotics warrant, he said.