A freak accident involving a large Jeffrey pine tree which fell on a single moving vehicle on Catalina Road in Big Bear Lake at approximately 11:10 am this morning resulted in the death of the driver, the solo occupant of the car. The vehicle was in motion driving east on Catalina when it was hit by the large tree. Deputies from the San Bernardino Sheriff Department were sent to the 400 block of Catalina Road for a large tree that had broken off about 30 feet about the ground level and had struck the vehicle. When deputies arrived, they found a dark Chevrolet Suburban in the street with the driver side passenger compartment crushed by the tree. The identity of the victim has been released by the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office as Elena Martinez, a 31-year-old resident of Big Bear Lake, who was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 12:05pm.
