Local man convicted for fatal collision
A 32-year-old Idyllwild resident was convicted for two felony charges stemming from a fatal traffic collision in 2020.
Victor Javier Sanchez was convicted for a total of 3 years and 8 months in state prison on felony charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and reckless driving causing bodily injury. Probbation was denied.
At about 3:18 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, Sanchez, then 29, with an unknown address, was driving a Dodge Challenger northbound on Highway 79, just north of Dugan Drive, at about 50 to 60 mph on a downhill curved portion of roadway, according to a California Highway Patrol (CHP) report.
Michelle Schulberg, then 50, of Aguanga, was driving a 2018 Subaru Outback southbound on Highway 79, just north of Dugan Drive, at about 45 to 50 mph on an uphill curved portion of roadway, approaching the Challenger.
Sanchez was traveling behind traffic directly ahead, traveled across the solid double yellow lines directly toward the Outback’s front end. The Challenger collided into the front of the Outback, causing it to veer partially off the roadway onto the dirt should, west of the roadway, and come to a stop. The Challenger stopped partially within the northbound and southbound lanes.
CHP, American Medical Response (AMR) and CalFire responded to the scene. An AMR paramedic pronounced David Schulberg, 60, of Aguanga, the passenger in the Outback, deceased at the scene. He was the spouse of the driver.
Michelle Schulberg and Sanchez suffered major injuries while a 17-year-old unnamed female passenger from Temecula in the Challenger suffered moderate injuries. The three were transported to Inland Valley Medical Center.
Sanchez’s arrest occurred Sept. 11, 2020, “due to the subject’s major injuries, and he was hospitalized until it was safe for him to be booked into jail,” said CHP Officer Mike Lassig of the Temecula station.
Schulberg was a “40-year veteran California law enforcement insignia collector …” according to Police Collector News Editor Mike R. Bondarenko. He had worked for both the Compton and El Monte police departments, according to Bondarenko.
