Ceres teen killed in rollover crash ID’d by Stanislaus Coroner’s Office
A single candle burned just after dawn Thursday morning at the spot on the 4200 block of Blaker Road where one Central Valley High School student was killed and three others injured when their car struck a power pole and tree and then overturned.
Grief counselors were available at the school for students on Thursday.
The Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office on Thursday released the name of the boy killed: Sergio Alfaro, 16.
The crash happened just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, not far from Central Valley High School. Responding Ceres police and California Highway Patrol officers found one occupant had been ejected from the car and three others remained inside.
One of the youths was partially trapped and had to be extricated by firefighters, the Ceres Police Department reported in a news release.
All occupants are boys. Alfaro, the one who was thrown from the car, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The others — a 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds — suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
The CPD Major Accident Investigation team was called in to conduct an investigation in the circumstances that lead to this traffic collision.
The California Highway Patrol was conducting training at the Ceres Police Department range right by the scene, so also responded. The Modesto Fire Department reported Thursday that its crews were en route to and from training at its nearby Station 17, so closest units responded to the crash scene, too.
For hours, Blaker was closed between Service and Grayson roads as investigators were on scene sorting through the evidence. Ceres police spokesman Sgt. Greg Yotsuya said Thursday morning that an investigator who normally ends his shift at 6 p.m. was on the case until 1 a.m.
Other departments involved were American Medical Response, Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, and Ceres and Salida fire.
Speed appears to be a factor in the crash, Yotsuya said. In a subsequent news release Thursday morning he said it did not appear that alcohol or drugs were a factor.
CHP Modesto Area office spokesman Officer Thomas Olsen said an Every 15 Minutes anti-DUI program had been scheduled to take place Thursday morning at Ceres High School but has been canceled.
The Ceres High committee in charge of the program and the CHP met Wednesday after the crash and “unanimously voted not to hold the program, out of respect for the deceased’s family and the impact it may have on the students.”
The event will not be rescheduled this year, Yotsuya said, but Olsen said it will continue to be offered at Ceres and Central Valley in future years.
Ceres Unified School District spokesman Jay Simmonds said extra counselors have been made available to talk with students and staff.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call Ceres Officer Freddie Ortiz at 209-538-5678.
We will have more information on the crash as it’s available.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 8:23 AM.
