Driver of stolen truck crashes into car in west Modesto, causing major injuries
The driver of a stolen truck crashed into another vehicle while trying to evade authorities Tuesday morning, Modesto police said.
The person who was hit suffered major injuries but is expected to survive, police said. A 3-year-old child was in the car and suffered minor injuries.
According to Officer Adam Foster, Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies spotted a stolen Toyota Tacoma in the area of Carpenter Road and California Avenue in west Modesto at 9:58 a.m. The Tacoma had been reported stolen about a half-hour earlier in northeast Modesto.
Deputies were unable to initiate a stop, Foster said. Police officers a short time later saw the stolen vehicle near Paradise Road and Yosemite Avenue, just west of Modesto High School, he said.
Officers turned their patrol car around to stop the truck, he said, but the suspect sped away south on Yosemite Avenue. As police rounded the corner and came to the intersection, they saw that the truck had collided with a car at Yosemite and Tuolumne Boulevard, he said.
The car, a Volkswagen Passat, had broadsided the truck when the driver of the truck ran a stop sign on Yosemite, Foster said. There is no stop sign on Tuolumne.
The driver of the truck, identified as Dustin Degetaire, 21, of Jamestown, ran away but was apprehended a few blocks away, Foster said. He was taken to a hospital to be cleared before being booked.
The Passat driver, a 24-year-old woman, was in serious but stable condition Tuesday afternoon.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 12:04 PM.
