UPDATE: Driver Killed After Slamming Car Into Trailer ID’d

Police identified a driver who was killed when the car he was driving slammed into a utility trailer being hauled by a pickup Monday morning at 11200 Montana Avenue in East El Paso.

Investigators said 21-year-old Gabriel Herrera, 100 block of Escudo Road in Socorro, died at the scene.

The pickup, 2006 Chevrolet Silverado being driven by 33-year old Josh Pena of Tucson, was traveling east on the right lane of Montana and was pulling a 2006 utility trailer that was carrying a 1976 Chevrolet Blazer and a variety of other personal items.

That’s when officers with Special Traffic Investigations unit said the Herrera was speeding in a 2005 Nissan Maxima and struck the trailer about 1:50 a.m. Monday.

The Blazer was thrown off the trailer and rolled as the Silverado veered off the roadway and struck a rockwall landscaping fixture. The trailer was destroyed.

The Nissan sustained extensive damage and caught fire. Fire personnel quickly extinguished the fire.

The driver and two passengers in the Silverado were not injured.

The incident closed the eastbound lanes of the Montana between Wooster Lane and George Dieter Drive from 2 to 10 a.m.

This is the 60th traffic death of 2011, compared with 57 at this time last year.