Merced toddler dies after drinking automotive cleaner

MERCED -- A 2-year-old boy is dead after consuming a caustic cleaner used on the aluminum wheels of vehicles Friday, the Merced County Sheriff's Department reported. Authorities are calling the death an accident.

About 3:30 p.m., Jack Shearer was playing at a family friend's automotive services shop in the 1000 block of Childs Avenue in Merced.

Deputy Tom MacKenzie, a Sheriff's Department spokesman, said the boy became thirsty, so his grandmother gave him a bottle found on the floorboard of her husband's truck that she believed contained water.

For more on the story, go to the Merced Sun-Star.