Family sues Riverside County after sheriff's deputy runs red light, killing a man and injuring his fiancée
Key takeaways
- Hinkley had been driving the couple’s Tesla and was making a left turn at the intersection of Cherry Valley Boulevard and Roberts Street in the city of Calimesa.
- Wilburn, a defendant in the lawsuit, began to brake just before the impact, but was still driving at 98 mph in the seconds before the car slowed to about 72 mph, the suit says.
- “There’s no excuse for a cowboy cop to be barreling down a two-lane road through a red light. ...He was driving so far in excess of what would be reasonable,” Lucas said in an interview with the Times.
View of a Tesla after a collision with a Riverside County Sheriff’s patrol car in Sept. 2025. The driver, Gavin Hinkley, died at the site of the crash in September, and his fiancée, 20-year-old Madeline Fox, suffered “catastrophic” injuries (Courtesy of Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP) By Suhauna Hussain Staff Writer Follow May 8, 2026 2:01 PM PT 4 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X Linked In Threads Reddit Whats App Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
Gavin Hinkley and his fiancée were running errands for their wedding, weeks away, when a Riverside County Sheriff’s patrol vehicle barreled toward them at 100 mph, running through a red light and colliding with the driver’s side of their car.
Hinkley, 21, died at the crash site in September, and his fiancée, 20-year-old Madeline Fox, suffered “catastrophic” injuries, including permanent brain trauma, according to a lawsuit filed this week by their families against Riverside County.