Two in critical condition after being pinned in car after crash in northeast Modesto

Two people were critically injured, pinned in their car after the driver ran a stop sign and was hit by another vehicle in northeast Modesto on Saturday evening, police said.

Modesto police and the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District responded to a call just after 6:15 p.m. of a crash on Claus Road near Terminal and Santa Fe avenues. At the scene, emergency crews worked to free the driver and passenger from their four-door sedan, which had come to a rest in a ditch just below the railroad tracks along Claus.

According to police Sgt. Manuel Corona, a Lincoln Town Car heading northwest on Santa Fe went through a stop sign at Claus and then was clipped by a Range Rover traveling south on Claus. The Town Car “spun and barrel rolled to a stop” in the ditch along the bank of the railroad tracks.

Both people were taken by ambulance and were in critical condition at a local hospital, Corona said. People in the Range Rover suffered only minor injuries and did not seek treatment at the scene.

Consolidated Fire Battalion Chief Eric DeHart said railroad dispatchers had been contacted to stop trains from traveling the route as the victims were pulled from the Town Car.

Only one lane was open on Claus at Terminal, slowing traffic as a California Highway Patrol officer directed cars. Both lanes had reopened by 6:45 p.m.

Thanks for your strong interest in local journalism. We rely on readers like you more than ever before, and we currently offer free access to five stories a month. We hope you see value in supporting us further with a digital subscription to help ensure we can provide strong local journalism for many years to come.

This story was originally published July 21, 2018 at 8:09 PM.