A 63-year-old Apple Valley man was left with major injuries Monday night after a Ford F-250 pickup truck struck him while he was crossing Navajo Road near Ottawa Road, in an area that has now seen multiple severe and fatal collisions in less than three years.
The crash happened around 7:38 p.m. as Louis Guzman was crossing Navajo Road, according to VVNG. The pickup was traveling southbound on Navajo Road when it struck Guzman, and investigators determined he was crossing the roadway when he was hit. Apple Valley Station deputies and Apple Valley Fire Protection District rescue personnel responded to the scene and found Guzman suffering from major injuries, per a sheriff's statement cited by the outlet. He was transported to a local hospital.
The driver was identified as 33-year-old Apple Valley resident Nicole Weiner, who remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, the station's report states. Authorities said drugs or alcohol were not determined to be a factor in the crash. The investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Apple Valley Police Station at (760) 240-7400 or Sheriff's Dispatch at (760) 956-5001. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call or text the We-Tip Hotline at 844-909-3006, or submit information through the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's tip portal.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled History
Monday's crash is not the first serious incident at or near this exact intersection. A 66-year-old bicyclist, Gerald Duncan, was killed by a southbound pickup truck near Navajo Road and Ottawa Road in December 2023, and 40-year-old Juan M. Rodriguez Mendoza died in a crash at the same intersection in October 2025, according to reporting from OnScene TV. Just weeks before Monday's crash, in late July, Apple Valley deputies arrested a 19-year-old driver near Bear Valley Road and Navajo Road on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly intentionally drove into two pedestrians, severely injuring one.
Under Town of Apple Valley Ordinance No. 484, the posted speed limit on Navajo Road runs as high as 50 mph between Bear Valley Road and Ottawa Road before dropping to 40 mph heading north toward State Highway 18, according to the Town of Apple Valley. That design speed, paired with the corridor's role as a major north-south arterial, leaves pedestrians with a narrow margin for error when crossing on foot after dark.
Why Trucks Like the F-250 Hit Harder
Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has examined the relationship between vehicle design and pedestrian injuries. The tall, blunt front end of a vehicle like the F-250 involved in Monday's crash is part of why such impacts so often prove catastrophic for people on foot.
The timing of the crash also fits a broader statewide pattern. Data compiled by UC Berkeley's Safe Transportation Research and Education Center shows that 51% of fatal pedestrian collisions in California happen between 6 p.m. and midnight, squarely the window in which Guzman was struck. San Bernardino County recorded 120 pedestrian fatalities in 2023, the second-highest total of any California county behind Los Angeles County, and countywide, 2025 brought 213 traffic fatalities and 14,743 people killed or injured in motor vehicle collisions overall, even as total casualties fell 3% from the year before.
Who's Investigating, and What's Still Unclear
Apple Valley contracts its police services from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, whose Apple Valley Station staffs 51 deputy sheriffs and 13 civilian personnel to cover the town's 77 square miles. That same station is leading the investigation into Monday's crash.
Investigators have not said publicly whether Guzman was crossing within an unmarked crosswalk at the Ottawa Road intersection, where California Vehicle Code Section 21950 would require Weiner to yield the right-of-way and exercise due care, or whether he was crossing mid-block, where Vehicle Code Section 21954 places the yielding duty on the pedestrian while still holding drivers to an overarching duty of care. That distinction could shape both the findings of the ongoing investigation and any future civil liability determination. For now, the crash adds another name to a corridor that has already proven deadly, and the investigation remains open as deputies continue piecing together what happened.
