UPDATE: Motorcyclist Killed in Thursday Morning Victorville Collision

VICTORVILLE – A 61-year-old Victorville man was killed in a traffic collision late Thursday morning. At around 10:45 a.m. deputies from the Victorville station and emergency medical personnel responded to the area of Palmdale Road near Del Gado Road for the report of a traffic collision.

The traffic collision involved a blue motorcycle and a maroon SUV. Through a preliminary investigation, deputies on scene determined that the SUV was heading west on Palmdale Road. The driver of the SUV

attempted to make a left turn onto Del Gado Road when the two collided.

When deputies arrived, they located the motorcyclist, later identified as Robert Russell “Rusty” Macfarlane on the ground not moving. Emergency personnel rendered CPR to Macfarlane who was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:54 a.m.

No other injuries were reported as a result of the collision. The driver of the SUV, 59-year-old Joel Chatman was arrested on suspicion of  gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He was booked into the High Desert Detention Center and is being held in lieu of $250,000 inmate records show. He is scheduled to appear at the Victorville Superior Court on the afternoon of Monday, June 20th.

The collision remains under investigation by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT). A hard road closure was put in place for several hours following the collision.

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