A 22-year-old motorcyclist died at the scene after a crash on the westbound Foothill (210) Freeway in Claremont, near Towne Avenue, shutting down most of the lanes in that direction for hours. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Elijah Johnson.
According to MyNewsLA.com, Johnson was identified as the crash victim based on information from the agency's website, which did not list his city of residence. A California Highway Patrol spokesperson told the outlet the collision occurred around 8 p.m. Friday on the westbound freeway just east of Towne Avenue, and that it involved a vehicle and a motorcycle.
A CHP incident log reviewed by chpfatal.com places the first report of the crash at about 8:04 p.m. Friday, describing a motorcycle blocking the slow lane. A later log entry, attributed to a witness, describes the collision as involving a motorcycle and a white four-door sedan, with the same witness alleging that the motorcycles involved were speeding beforehand — an account the log records but does not confirm as the cause of the crash.
Freeway Shut Down for Hours
The response to the crash prompted CHP to request a Sig Alert after three-quarters of the westbound lanes near Towne Avenue were closed, per the same chpfatal.com log. Lanes were reported to be reopening by 11:37 p.m. Friday.
Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene in Claremont. The identity and condition of the other driver involved have not been made public.
Not the First Fatal Crash on This Stretch
Friday's crash is at least the second motorcyclist death on the Foothill Freeway in Claremont in roughly a year. In August 2025, a motorcyclist was killed in a two-vehicle collision on the 210 in Claremont, according to 2UrbanGirls.
A separate fatal crash on the same freeway occurred the following month, in September 2025, when a person died in a two-vehicle collision on the eastbound 210 at the Base Line Road off-ramp around 8 a.m. on a Saturday, CHP told MyNewsLA.com at the time. That crash involved a black Mini Cooper and a white Ford sedan, and a person from the Ford was taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead at 8:25 a.m., the outlet reported.
No official cause has been released for Friday's crash in Claremont, and the circumstances surrounding the collision remain under review.
