At about 9:00pm Thursday night, Modesto Police got out with an occupied suspicious vehicle near E. Hatch Road and Jim Way in Modesto.
While attempting contact, the vehicle fled eastbound on Hatch Road and got onto southbound State Route 99.
A short time later, the vehicle exited the freeway northbound on Mitchell Road where it was met by Ceres Police.
Before the Ceres officer was able to even attempt to stop the vehicle, it began recklessly attempting to evade him by speeding around vehicles using the shoulder.
The Ceres officer then used his red light and siren to signal the vehicle’s driver to stop, but he failed to do so and a pursuit was initiated.
The pursuit made its way southbound on Rohde Road to the Keyes area, and eventually eastbound on E. Keyes Road.
At about 9:04pm, the pursued vehicle was traveling eastbound on Keyes Road approaching Geer Road at a high rate of speed, while an uninvolved vehicle was traveling southbound on Geer Road approaching Keyes Road.
The two vehicles entered the intersection at the same time and the front of the pursued vehicle collided with the right side of the uninvolved vehicle.
The California Highway Patrol, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s, Modesto Police, Denair Fire, Keyes Fire, Hughson Fire, Turlock Rural Fire, and American Medical Response all responded to the scene of the collision.
The pursued vehicle had four occupants, later identified as driver Osvaldo Calles, 20, and passengers Fernando Barajas Reyes, 20, Jesus Vega, 18, and Alexander Rincoln, 24, all of Modesto. The uninvolved vehicle had a single occupant, later identified as driver Joshua Guillen, 17, of Hughson.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Calles wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, while Guillen was. It’s currently unknown if Calles’ passengers were wearing their seatbelt.
During the collision, Calles and Reyes were both ejected from the pursued vehicle. They both suffered major injuries which they succumbed to at the scene.
Vega, Rincoln, and Guillen all also suffered major injuries and were transported to local hospitals.
Both vehicles sustained major damage and were towed away from the scene, but not before CHP officers spent seven hours at the scene investigating.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information that could assist in it is encouraged to call Officer Garcia at 209-545-7440.
