DONALD PATTERSON IDENTIFIED AS DRIVER IN FIERY SUICIDE CRASH

July 10, 2010 (Pine Valley) – Donald Patterson, 57, of El Cajon has been identified by the San Diego Medical Examiner as the driver of a pickup that plummeted off I-8 near the Sunrise Highway exit in Pine Valley on Wednesday, sparking a brush fire.

Patterson’s vehicle was reported by a witness to be traveling at a high rate of speed when it veered sharply to the right, crossed multiple lanes of traffic and hutled down an embankment, rolling over multiple times. The pickup caught fire, igniting nearby brush.

When the fire department arrived on scene a short time later, the pickup truck was fully engulfed in flames. The fire department extinguished the fire and found Patterson’s body partially ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene due to burns.

Patterson was reportedly despondent earlier in the day, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the tragedy. The Medical Examiner has concluded that his death was a suicide.

Details on his occupation and next of kind are not readily available.  However ECM has received confirmation from Grossmont College that the deceased was not the instructor by the same name who formerly taught at Grossmont.