A Riverside County sheriff’s motorcycle deputy died in an on-duty traffic collision on the 91 Freeway in Riverside on Wednesday, Jan. 8, Sheriff Chad Bianco said.
“With immense sadness & a heavy heart, I must report that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office has lost another deputy in a line-of-duty death,” Bianco said in a social-media post.
Deputy Timothy Corlew, 40, assigned to the Jurupa Valley station, was riding in the left lane of the westbound 91 Freeway east of La Sierra Avenue at about 5:35 a.m. when he came upon stopped traffic and struck the back of a Toyota sedan, said Officer Javier Navarro, a California Highway Patrol spokesman.
Corlew was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he died, Navarro said. The lone occupant of the Toyota was hospitalized for minor injuries.
The motorcycle was left upside down and the sedan with rear-end damage.
Corlew joined the agency on Feb. 1, 2016. He worked in the Sheriff’s Court Services before transferring to the Jurupa Valley Station in 2019. The deputy completed Motor School in June 2022.
Scores of officers, along with firefighters, gathered in front of the hospital for a procession. Officers came from throughout Southern California, including Desert Hot Springs, Tustin and Whittier. The procession left at 10 a.m. and traveled to the Coroner’s Office in Perris.
Among those watching along Magnolia Avenue near the hospital was Judi Jack of Riverside.
She came to the site “to pay our respects, to show loyalty to our sheriff’s (deputies). They work so hard.”
Jack stood outside her SUV with the license plate of “911NYFD.” Family members on her side are retired from the Los Angeles Fire Department, and her husband’s cousins and uncles worked for the New York City Fire Department.
“It hits you a little deeper,” Jack said, referencing the public-safety connection. “You show more compassion and empathy for them.”
Seven Riverside County deputies have died in the line of duty in approximately the past five years after the department went 13 years without an on-duty fatality.
Deputy Terrell Young died April 2, 2020, from COVID-19; Sgt. Harry Cohen died Oct. 18, 2020, from a heart attack; correctional Lt. Steve Taylor died Feb. 24, 2022, from COVID-19; Deputy Isaiah Cordero was shot to death on Dec. 29, 2022; Deputy Darnell Calhoun was shot to death on Jan. 13, 2023; and Deputy Brett Harris died in a traffic collision on May 13, 2023, the sheriff’s website says.
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