Drugs Suspected in Incident that Left Temecula Teen With Serious Injuries

Investigators with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Southwest Station are working to determine what type of drug or drugs a teen boy may have ingested that caused him to turn up severely injured in a Temecula-area field.

Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Terry Jones said deputies responded at about 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 to a field at El Chimisal Road and Baystone Street in unincorporated Temecula—near Morgan Hill Park—to find an approximately 16-year-old boy suffering from serious injuries.

Jones said a dispatcher had received a call referencing “an injured juvenile who happened to be disoriented and wandering aimlessly in an open field.”

The boy, who had no identification on him and was conscious but allegedly too incoherent to give deputies a statement or provide his name, was rushed to a local hospital, Jones said.

Responding deputies reported that the injuries appeared to be consistent with falling or having been struck, but that there were no witnesses or possible suspects around.

“At that point, deputies had no idea how he got there,” Jones said. “There was no bicycle found.”

An investigation ensued and through interviews with some other teens, detectives were able to determine that the boy had possibly ingested some type of unknown drug, Jones said.

It was also determined that his injuries appeared to have been self-inflicted.

“He may have fallen a few times,” Jones said.

The boy was said to be still hospitalized but recovering as of Wednesday, according to the sergeant.

“The last word I got was that he was recovering and the injuries were not considered to be life-threatening at this point,” Jones said.

There was no criminal investigation as to him being injured by someone else, though detectives were working to determine the type of drug or drugs he may have taken.

“We want to know what he took, of course, what the kids are taking out there,” Jones said.

Anyone with information about the incident may call the Southwest Sheriff’s Station at 951-696-3000.