Remembrance service set Thursday for RSO deputy killed on 91 Freeway
Final respects will be paid tomorrow to a 40-year-old Riverside County sheriff's deputy killed in a collision involving his patrol motorcycle on the Riverside (91) Freeway.
Deputy Timothy Corlew was fatally injured on the morning of Jan. 8 along the westbound 91 at La Sierra Avenue in Riverside.
Corlew's family, friends and colleagues, along with public safety officers and first responders from other agencies, are slated to convene for a tribute service scheduled at 10 a.m. Thursday at Harvest Christian Fellowship, 6115 Arlington Ave., in Riverside. The remembrance ceremony will not be open to the general public. However, sheriff's officials invited area residents to show their support by lining the procession route from the church to Olivewood Memorial Park, located at 3300 Central Ave.
The hearse and other vehicles will likely depart from Harvest around noon, turning westbound onto Arlington, then southbound on Crestview Drive before turning westbound onto Seventh Street, southbound on California Avenue, westbound on Sixth Street, southbound on Hamner Avenue, eastbound onto Second Street, then heading southbound on Interstate 15. From there, the procession will transition to the eastbound 91, exiting at Central Avenue and entering the parking lot for Olivewood.
Like the service at Harvest, the burial will be private.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco posted a brief statement on the day of Corlew's fatal collision, saying "with immense sadness and a heavy heart, I must report the sheriff's office has lost another deputy in a line-of-duty death."
The sheriff's department released a formal acknowledgement, saying "We extend our deepest sympathy to the family of Deputy Timothy Corlew. Please continue to pray for his wife, two sons and the men and women of the Riverside County Sheriff's Office as we grieve this loss."
California Highway Patrol Inland Empire Division spokesman Officer Dan Olivas said that at 5:35 a.m. on Jan. 8, Corlew was traveling in the HOV lane at an unconfirmed speed when he encountered ``traffic ahead ... stopped across all lanes."
"For reasons still under investigation, the deputy collided with the rear of a Toyota (Lexus), and he was ejected from his motorcycle onto a Hyundai sedan,'' Olivas said.
Riverside Fire Department paramedics reached the location within minutes and attempted life-saving measures, after which Corlew was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead moments later, according to Olivas.
He said the Lexus driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to the same hospital for treatment. The occupant of the Hyundai was not hurt.
The CHP's Riverside office spokesman, Officer Javier Navarro, told City News Service it was ``unlikely any criminal charges will be coming out of this down the road, based on what we know.''
Officials said Corlew was hired in February 2016, and following his graduation from the sheriff's public safety academy later that year, he was assigned bailiff duties in the court system. He was transferred to patrol operations at the Jurupa Valley station in August 2019. Corlew completed Motor School in June 2022 and deployed as a motorcycle patrolman immediately afterward.
The department's last line-of-duty death occurred in May 2023, when 27- year-old Deputy Brett Michael Harris was responding to a call for backup and going through a San Jacinto intersection when his patrol SUV was side-impacted by a sedan, resulting in fatal injuries to the lawman. The other driver suffered minor injuries.
His was the third in a string of on-duty deaths that occurred over a roughly four-month span. Preceding him was 30-year-old Deputy Darnell Calhoun, who was gunned down in January 2023 in an alleged ambush perpetrated by a felon involved in a domestic violence incident in Lakeland Village.
Prior to that, on Dec. 29, 2022, 32-year-old Deputy Isaiah Albert Cordero, a motor patrolman, was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Jurupa Valley by a felon who had been granted early release from jail.
