CHP unit responding to traffic collision is involved in a crash of its own early Sunday
Two California Highway Patrol officers, a Ceres woman and a Modesto man all escaped serious injury in a collision early Sunday east of Modesto.
The crash, involving graveyard-shift partners in a CHP patrol unit and a driver and passenger in an SUV, happened about 2:45 a.m. at the intersection of Yosemite Boulevard and Albers/Geer roads.
The CHP 2017 Dodge Charger was westbound on Yosemite, approaching the Albers/Geer intersection, with lights and siren on because the officers were responding to a traffic collision, said Modesto area CHP spokesman Officer Tom Olsen.
The other vehicle, a 2014 Dodge SUV, was southbound on Albers, and both vehicles entered the intersection at the same time. The front of the SUV struck the right side of the CHP vehicle. The impact sent the Charger southwest into a power pole, where it came to rest.
Both officers were taken to Doctors Medical Center with minor lacerations and complaints of pain, Olsen said. He did not release their names but said the driver is a 29-year-old with six years in the department and the passenger is 28, with five years in the department.
The driver of the SUV is Rosario Guadalupe Velarde Requena, 50, of Ceres, and her passenger is Gerardo Duran-Escatel, 51 of Modesto. Both of them also were taken to Doctors Medical Center with complaints of pain. All four people involved were wearing their safety belts, Olsen said.
“We’re still determining (which driver had) the red light and such,” Olsen said by phone Sunday. He said standard collision avoidance procedure is that even with lights and siren, a CHP vehicle pauses before entering an intersection.
“This in an ongoing investigation,” Olsen said in a text to The Bee. “We will analyze the evidence to determine what exactly happened leading up to the collision. We are grateful nobody involved ... sustained any serious injuries.
“We always conduct a fair and impartial investigation regarding collisions in this manner.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 10:04 AM.
