Dozing driver rams 9 cars in California

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TEMECULA, Calif., Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A sport utility vehicle driven by a man who fell asleep at the wheel rammed nine cars at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in California, police said.

David Arriaga, 20, of Riverside fell asleep at the wheel about 8:30 a.m. PDT Monday, and the SUV plowed into the parked cars on Interstate 15 near the checkpoint in Temecula, the California Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The impact upended a parked SUV and drove a Mercedes-Benz into a fence, The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise reported.

A passenger in Arriaga's vehicle was taken to a hospital for treatment of what the report described as major injuries. The injured passenger's name was not reported.

The CHP report did not indicate whether Arriaga was arrested but it called the crash "avoidable."

"We are very fortunate that nobody was killed," the CHP release said.