Police: One person killed, one injured in crash after driver flees traffic stop in Ceres
One person was killed and another suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash that followed an attempted traffic stop in Ceres on Saturday evening, according to police.
The crash occurred at 6:07 p.m. at Central Avenue and East Hatch Road, according to a news release from the Ceres Police Department.
The release says an officer tried to stop the silver Volkswagen Beetle but its driver instead traveled north on Central Avenue at high speed.
The driver lost control of the VW and struck the trailer of the eastbound semi truck, said Sgt. Keith Griebel, Ceres Police Department spokesman.
The California Highway Patrol is handling the investigation.
The Beetle struck the side of the trailer and became wedged beneath it. A portion of the car was sheared off and came to rest on the sidewalk in front of the Turlock Irrigation District substation at the intersection.
Battalion Chief Jeff Serpa of the Ceres Fire Department said two people were pinned in the vehicle. It took firefighters 15 minutes to extricate them.
Police said the driver was declared dead at the scene; the passenger was taken to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries.
As of early Sunday afternoon, authorities had not released the names, hometowns, genders or ages of the people in the car.
Griebel said Saturday evening that he did not yet know why the pursuit was initiated.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the CHP Modesto office at 209-545-7440.
This story was originally published July 17, 2021 at 7:54 PM.
