Motorcyclist in fatal 5 Freeway collision identified as La Crescenta resident
A La Crescenta man has been identified by authorities as a motorcyclist who was killed in a vehicle collision Sunday morning on the 5 Freeway in the Newhall Pass.
Matthew Fielding, 25, was traveling southbound toward the 210 Freeway near Balboa Boulevard around 11:10 a.m. when he collided with a BMW driving in the same direction.
“The driver of the motorcycle collided into the right side of the BMW and was ejected from his vehicle and landed on the southbound truck lanes,” said California Highway Patrol Officer M. Sandoval.
Fielding died from his injuries, while the car’s occupants, a man and woman, were unharmed.
Sandoval said no cause has been determined in the collision, and it remains under investigation.
Mike Leum, a volunteer member of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team, knew Fielding when he had first befriended Leum’s two sons, Garrett and Hunter, when they were in school.
The four bonded through their shared passion with motorcycles.
“He liked to lighten life with levity,” Leum said. “Matt was always great to be around. There’s nothing that he wouldn’t do for you.”
He said Fielding once spent six hours in the rain welding one of his son’s motorcycles to help fix it.
“That’s just the way he was,” Leum said.
According to him, Fielding had recently purchased a home in La Crescenta and was ready to start a new job. The news of his death came as a shock to his friends and family with Leum himself saying he’s still trying to process it.
“He was taken too young” he said. “Everybody right now is trying to celebrate his life rather than mourn it … That’s what he would want.”
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
