Flowers, balloons honor Stanislaus sheriff employees who died in south Modesto crash

Flowers, blue balloons and at least one potted plant with messages expressing grief and offering condolences have been placed at two sites to memorialize the lost of two Stanislaus County sheriff’s employees who died in a fiery crash Saturday morning.

Deputy Jason Garner and Community Service Officer Raschel Johnson were in a sheriff’s patrol vehicle when the Ford Explorer went off Crows Landing Road and crashed on the Modesto Auto Wreckers property near Seventh Street in Modesto. Garner and Johnson were responding to a reported burglary about 8:15 a.m. when the single-vehicle crash occurred.

On Sunday, people had left behind flowers and balloons with scrawled messages at the crash site along Crows Landing Road. Flowers and balloons, many of them royal blue to symbolize law enforcement, had been placed just outside the the front entrance of the sheriff’s headquarters on Hackett Road in south Modesto.

The Sheriff’s Department also lowered its flags to honor Garner and Johnson. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the deadly crash, a process officials said could take several months. Authorities on Sunday did not release any further information about the crash.

This story was originally published May 14, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Flowers, balloons honor Stanislaus sheriff employees who died in south Modesto crash."