Two drivers killed in head-on crash were Patterson residents, authorities say
The two men killed in a head-on crash Monday afternoon both were Patterson residents, the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office said Tuesday morning.
One was identified as Leeroy Carralez, 81, and the other as Jose Arrizon Jr., 34.
The collision was reported at 12:35 p.m. Monday on West Main Street east of South Carpenter Road, about halfway between Turlock and Patterson.
According to CHP Officer Paul Camara at the scene, the preliminary investigation determined that Carralez was heading east, driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup, and Arrizon was westbound behind the wheel of a black Chevrolet sedan.
For reasons being investigated, one of the vehicles veered into the path of the other, the officer said. Officers have not determined which vehicle it was.
Both drivers were dead upon arrival of CHP officers, Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and ambulance crews, so there was no opportunity for lifesaving measures to be performed.
West Main was closed at Crows Landing and Carpenter roads as the crash was investigated and the scene was cleared.
The crash was just yards from a memorial to another fatal crash, which occurred last spring.
The evening of June 10, a three-vehicle collision there killed one driver and left another with major injuries. The third was uninjured, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The preliminary investigation determined that the driver who was killed, 31-year-old Armando Vega of Modesto, was westbound on West Main.
His 2014 Buick crossed into the eastbound lane and hit a 2006 Chevrolet driven by Turlock resident Nicholas Stanley, 33. The Buick then struck the vehicle behind Stanley, a 2014 GMC driven by Patterson resident Patricia Verducci, 56.
Vega died at the scene, Verducci suffered major injuries and Stanley was unhurt.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 11:24 AM.
