CHP: Alcohol Was Factor in Saturday's Fatal Lake Skinner Crash

A Menifee woman who died Saturday in a car crash at Lake Skinner was driving under the influence of alcohol, the California Highway Patrol reported Tuesday.

“...Alcohol was a factor however it is still under investigation how high the blood alcohol level was,” wrote Temecula Area CHP Officer Dan England, in an emailed response to Patch.

Racquel Kalisiak, 29, lost control of the car she was driving at about 8 p.m. Saturday in the 37700 block of Warren Road, approximately 1,000 feet north of East Benton Road, according to a preliminary report released Sunday by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.

In a CHP accident report obtained Tuesday by Patch, the investigating officer wrote: “According to two witnesses, [Kalisiak] was driving her car northbound on Warren Road at 45-60 mph. [She] allowed her car to drift onto the right, dirt shoulder and the right front of her vehicle struck a dirt berm. Her vehicle went out of control, overturning down the dirt shoulder.”

Though she was wearing a seat belt, Kalisiak was thrown from the 2006 Toyota she was driving, suffering blunt force trauma to her torso, leg and head, according to the CHP report.

She was transported to Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, where she succumbed to her injuries at 8:52 p.m. Saturday, the coroner’s office reported.
The responding CHP officer wrote of a “strong possibility that alcohol may have been a factor in this collision pending further investigation.”

Then Officer England confirmed Tuesday that alcohol was involved, noting the level of intoxication still needed to be determined by the coroner’s office.

Kalisiak leaves behind a husband, according to her Facebook profile.