CHP investigating Stanislaus County crashes that killed two men
Two men, residents of Patterson and Gilroy, were killed in separate Stanislaus County traffic collisions Saturday and Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The first happened about 6:30 p.m. Saturday on Crows Landing Road just north of Ehrlich Road, said Officer Thomas Olsen, spokesman for the CHP Modesto area office.
The Gilroy man, age 62, was driving south on Crows Landing in a 1998 GMC pickup towing a one-axle trailer. He was approaching a northbound 2015 Volvo semi hauling a refrigerated trailer that contained 30,000 pounds of lettuce.
The GMC drifted into the northbound lane, colliding with the tractor-trailer. The Volvo’s driver, 39-year-old Baljit Singh Mann of Modesto, tried to avoid the crash by turning. After the impact, his truck went off the edge of the road and came to rest in a cornfield.
Mann was uninjured, Olsen said. The Gilroy man, who was not wearing his seat belt, was partially ejected from his pickup and was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was withheld pending notification of family.
The investigation has not determined if drugs or alcohol factored in the crash, Olsen said, adding, “Seat belts, when worn properly, have the ability to save your life.”
Sunday’s crash was about 10:50 a.m. on Milton Road north of Dunton Road, about four miles north of Woodward Reservoir.
A Patterson man, 63, was riding a 2008 Harley-Davidson motorcycle north on Milton when he lost control and went off the west side of the road. The motorcycle went down a grassy embankment and struck a barbed-wire fence, ejecting the rider. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Olsen said.
Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash, Olsen said. He added, “It’s unknown at this time if the rider died from injuries sustained or suffered a medical episode prior to the collision.”
The man’s name was withheld pending notification of family.
This story was originally published August 9, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
