42-year-old ID'd as wrong-way driver who killed Mesa officer

Officials have identified the driver of the vehicle that struck and killed an off-duty Mesa police officer early Monday after driving more than 30 miles in the wrong direction on Interstate 10.

Raul Silva Corona, 42, has been identified as the driver of the vehicle that fatally collided with Officer Brandon Mendoza, 32, said Cari Gerchick, the communications director for Maricopa County.

Silva Corona died of blunt-force injuries suffered in the collision, Gerchick said.

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The incident began about 12:30 a.m. Monday, when Arizona Department of Public Safety officers received a report of a motorist driving the wrong way on Loop 101 near Cactus Road, Officer Carrick Cook, a DPS spokesman said.

Records show that dispatch received more than 30 calls from drivers describing seeing or almost being hit by Silva Corona's speeding oncoming vehicle.

Silva Corona continued to drive west in the eastbound lanes of Loop 101, then south in the northbound lanes of State Route 51, Cook said.

A DPS officer attempted to stop the vehicle on State Route 51 near Thomas Road, but then Silva Corona went around the officer and continued east in the westbound lanes of I-10, Cook said.

Silva Corona continued going the wrong way as he entered the U.S. 60 interchange, when he fatally hit Mendoza head-on, Cook said.

Mendoza, a 13-year Mesa police veteran, had completed a shift and was on his way home.

Silva Corona died in the accident as well, and investigators believe he could have been impaired.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office did not release results of Silva Corona's toxicology screening with the cause and manner of death.

Silva Corona has no record of having been issued a driver's license, according to DPS. The absence of that document made it difficult to determine whether Silva Corona had any prior encounters with law enforcement.