Modesto city employee killed in crash identified
The city of Modesto maintenance worker who died in a crash on Finch Road Monday afternoon was identified as 52-year-old Modesto resident Johnny Garcia Jr. He’d worked for the city for 18 years.
Garcia was driving west on Finch Road in a three-axle garbage packer truck loaded with green waste at about 2 p.m.
He was a half-block from the waste disposal facility when, for unknown reasons, the truck veered off the north side of the road.
The left side of the truck drove through a cement planter in front of a packaging facility before crashing into a chain link fence and then a tree on the left side of the truck.
The truck came to rest between the tree and the fence. Garcia died at the scene.
It was raining at the time of the crash but California Highway Patrol officer Thomas Olsen said it is unknown if that was a factor. He said Garcia was not wearing a seat belt but it’s also unknown if that contributed to his death.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 10:22 AM.
