Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jun 19

Riverside Deputy Glynn Wilburn Charged in 2025 Fatal Crash, Faces 3 Felony Counts

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jun 19

Riverside Deputy Glynn Wilburn Charged in 2025 Fatal Crash, Faces 3 Felony Counts

Q: Dispatch warned a deputy the emergency was over. Why did he still cause a fatal crash at 100 mph?

Because investigators say he kept driving at emergency speed after the call had effectively stopped being an active emergency. According to prosecutors and the CHP investigation, dispatch told Deputy Glynn Wilburn before the crash that there were no reported injuries at the shots-fired scene, the suspect vehicle had already left, and other deputies were already there. That meant the urgent need for a high-speed response had largely ended. Even so, authorities say Wilburn continued at about 100 mph, then entered the Cherry Valley Boulevard-Roberts Street intersection against a red light at roughly 71 mph and hit Gavin Hinkley’s car. Why he did not slow down has not been publicly explained by Wilburn, and charging documents do not appear to give a motive. But the legal theory from prosecutors is clear: they believe his decision to continue at that speed, despite updated dispatch information, was criminally negligent. That is why he was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving causing serious injury. The case turns on a basic rule for emergency driving. California law gives officers certain privileges when using lights and sirens, but only if they still drive with due regard for public safety. Investigators say that standard was not met here. The crash killed 21-year-old Hinkley and severely injured his fiancée, Madeline Fox, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. The families have also filed a civil lawsuit, calling the crash preventable.

Q: Did paramedics treat the deputy first, delaying critical aid to the dying man and his fiancée?

Yes — but at this stage, that claim is an allegation in the families’ civil lawsuit, not a fact established by prosecutors in the criminal case. According to the lawsuit filed by the families of Gavin Hinkley and Madeline Fox, paramedics treated Deputy Glynn Wilburn first and transported him before giving aid to Hinkley and Fox, despite the couple suffering far more severe injuries. Their attorney said Wilburn had minor injuries while the couple remained trapped in the wreckage. The criminal charges announced by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office focus on Wilburn’s driving before the crash: prosecutors say he was traveling at very high speed, entered the intersection against a red light, and struck the victims’ vehicle while responding to a shots-fired call that had effectively ceased to be an active emergency. Those charges do not, based on the information released, address the order of medical treatment at the scene. So the best-supported answer is that there is a specific, public allegation that paramedics prioritized the deputy and that this delayed critical care to the victims. But that allegation appears to come from the civil case and reporting around it, and it has not been independently confirmed in the charging announcement.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 19

Riverside County prosecutors charged Deputy Glynn Wilburn, 42, with gross vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving after a 2025 on-duty crash that killed a man and severely injured the victim’s fiancée.
Sept. 6, 2025, the collision happened in Beaumont, about 77 miles east of Los Angeles, while Wilburn was driving at high speed with lights and sirens activated toward a reported shooting in Calimesa.
A warrant has been issued for Wilburn’s arrest, and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office has placed him on administrative leave.
The case puts criminal scrutiny on an emergency response crash involving a deputy who prosecutors say also faces a great bodily injury enhancement.