AQUEDUCT CRASH FOLLOWED MOTORIST CLASH, SAY POLICE.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LITTLEROCK - A road rage confrontation preceded a fatal crash in which an El Centro man's car plunged off Highway 138 into the California Aqueduct, officials said Sunday.

Jesse James Rodriguez, 20, had exchanged words with another motorist after both stopped on the shoulder. A bottle had been thrown between the vehicles and the vehicles may have bumped each other earlier, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

``It went on from there and became a huge tragedy,'' Sgt. Tom Lackey said.

Just before the crash, Rodriguez had been driving on the shoulder, passing slower-moving cars, apparently trying to catch up with the other motorist, Lackey said.

His 1996 Chrysler went back into the traffic lane, turned to the right, went through a chain-link fence, hit a utility pole and then plunged into the aqueduct where it crosses Highway 138 near 96th Street East, a CHP report said.

The crash happened about 3:50 p.m. Saturday. Rodriguez had been driving to the Antelope Valley to visit his mother, Lackey said.

Rodriguez was pulled from the submerged car by sheriff's divers about 4:30 p.m., fire officials said. He was flown to Antelope Valley Hospital by helicopter and pronounced dead there.

A CHP officer roped himself to another CHP officer and dove into the water after arriving at the crash scene, but couldn't reach the motorist, Lackey said. Firefighters from the Littlerock fire station also tried to reach him. The aqueduct water there is very fast, cold and dark.

Coroner's officials have not determined the cause of death, but CHP officials said Rodriguez was injured when his vehicle struck the pole.

The crash and part of the confrontations that preceded it were actually videotaped by two people in another vehicle, Lackey said. They had noticed the behavior of the motorists earlier and started videotaping their vehicles.

CHP officers questioned the other motorist, a Palmdale man, but he has not been arrested, Lackey said.

``The role he played has not been determined exactly,'' Lackey said.

Investigators aren't sure what sparked the confrontation, Lackey said.

``We are still trying to determine exactly how this occurred and exactly what role it played in the collision,'' Lackey said.

Charles F. Bostwick, [phone]

chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

CHP officers watch as the car in which 20-year-old Jesse James Rodriguez was killed is pulled from the waters of the California Aqueduct near Highway 138.

Paul Weatherman/Special to the Daily News