KERN COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A Fresno man has been arrested following a crash that killed a man from Irvine in Kern County, the California Highway Patrol said.
CHP says they received a call of a two-vehicle crash on Highway 46, east of Kecks Road in Kern County on Friday at around 11:15 a.m.
According to officers, Cesar Luis Lopez Jr., 29, of Fresno was driving a 2015 Freightliner truck-tractor with trailer combination southbound on a private property dirt road approaching the westbound lanes of Highway 46, east of Kecks Road.
At the same time, a man from Irvine was driving a 2019 Mercedes westbound on Highway 46, east of Kecks Road. Investigators say Lopez Jr. failed to yield the right of way to the Mercedes and proceeded to cross the westbound lanes of Highway 46, directly into the path of the Mercedes. The Mercedes was unable to avoid the crash and collided with the left side of the Freightliner’s trailer.
CHP says Lopez Jr. proceeded through a paved portion connecting the westbound and eastbound lanes of Highway 46 before coming to a stop on the eastbound side of the highway. The driver of the Mercedes was pronounced deceased at the scene, and Lopez Jr. was transported to a local hospital.