HWY 111 reopens after street race death investigation
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office was investigating a deadly crash from 2013 on Highway 111, and the investigation affected some traffic through Rancho Mirage.
One eastbound lane of the highway was shut down at 11 a.m. near Dune View Road to reenact a crash that killed an 81-year-old Rancho Mirage woman on June 18, 2013. Two men were arrested and charged with street racing which lead to her death.
“All along we’ve claimed that this is just a very tragic accident,” Defense Attorney Stephanie Arrache said. “At the end of the day, you have a deceased woman, and it’s sad. It’s really sad.”
The crash investigation was cleared by about 12:15 p.m., but authorities initially said the closure could last for several hours. Authorities said westbound traffic wasn’t affected during the investigation, as they took pictures and conducted distance tests on Scott Bahls’ car, trying to gather more information for the case.
“Speed is a measurement of distance over time,” Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Daniel Fox said. “We believe that we have an accurate time measurement. What we need to go with that is an accurate distance measurement.”
Barbara Schmitz, 81, was killed in the street racing crash and her husband, Gerald, was seriously injured. The suspects charged in the case, Wade Wheeler and Scott Bahls, are both on trial for her death. The trial is scheduled to take place August 5.
Defendants re-arrested in deadly street racing crash
Scott Daniel Bahls, 30, of Palm Springs, and Wade Wheeler, 33, of Rancho Mirage, are each charged with one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, unlawfully engaging in a speed contest on a highway, and reckless driving causing injury or death.
While both Bahls and Wheeler await their trial, both Arrache and Fox say Thursdays tests will have them prepared once the trial begins.
“We want to be sure that we have, not only the prosecution, but also the defense has what they need so that we can do a very good case for the people of Riverside.”
“I think that people are fair, and I think that most of all they’re going to wait and see what the evidence brings about in trial. We’re confident that we’ll get a very good jury, and that they’ll see it for what it is. Just a very, very tragic accident.”
Arrache said authorities tested only Bahls’ car Thursday, because the other two cars the prosecution said were involved in the crash were totaled.
She said the trial is expected to start August 5th.
