Relatives of a 21-year-old man killed and his fiancée critically injured in a September patrol crash in Calimesa have filed a sweeping lawsuit against Riverside County and several other defendants, alleging a sheriff’s deputy blew through a red light and slammed into their car. The complaint, filed May 7, 2026, in Riverside County Superior Court, says Gavin Hinkley died at the scene and 20-year-old Madeline Fox suffered catastrophic brain trauma. The suit names Deputy Glynn Wilburn personally and accuses county and private defendants of gross negligence and recklessness.
A California Highway Patrol report reviewed by the Los Angeles Times states that Wilburn was traveling about 100 miles per hour five seconds before impact, with his siren and forward-facing red-and-blue lights activated. According to those documents, he likely identified the Tesla as a hazard roughly one second before the collision and hit the brakes, slowing to about 72 miles per hour when the patrol SUV struck the driver’s side of the car. “There’s no excuse for a cowboy cop to be barreling down a two-lane road through a red light,” the families’ attorney, Spencer Lucas, told the paper.
The crash happened just after 10 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2025, at Cherry Valley Boulevard and Roberts Street, when Hinkley was making a left turn and his Tesla was broadsided by a westbound patrol SUV, according to earlier California Highway Patrol reporting reviewed by CBS Los Angeles. Hinkley was pronounced dead at the scene, Fox was rushed to a hospital with major injuries, and the deputy, based at the Cabazon station, sustained minor injuries.
The newly filed complaint names Riverside County, Southern California Edison, American Medical Response of Southern California and the cities of Calimesa and Beaumont as defendants. It alleges that utility equipment interfered with visibility and that paramedics treated and transported the deputy before turning to Hinkley and Fox, according to the Los Angeles Times. The families, represented by Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, are seeking damages for wrongful death and for Fox’s permanent injuries.
Legal context
Under California law, a public entity can be vicariously liable for an employee’s torts, see Government Code §815.2, and claims against counties generally require filing an administrative claim first, typically within six months for personal injury or wrongful death under the Government Claims Act, legal guides note. Those deadlines, along with statutory immunities, can be pivotal in any lawsuit against a county, so plaintiffs and their lawyers must carefully navigate the Government Claims Act and other statutory defenses as the case moves forward.
What’s next
The complaint remains pending in Riverside County Superior Court, with the CHP’s San Gorgonio Pass office identified as the investigating agency. Family attorneys say they will press for accountability as discovery begins and the case proceeds through the civil courts, a process that is likely to keep the crash and the county’s response under a public microscope for some time.
