Merced County, California (January 10, 2020) – Jamee Chargualaf, 24, of Hanford, has been identified by the Merced County Coroner’s Office as the man who was killed in a car crash on Wednesday morning in Merced County.
The accident happened on Interstate 5 Freeway near Highway 140 at about 12:35 a.m. January 8.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a 54-year-old Sun City man was driving a 2014 Volvo semi-truck trailer northbound in the right lane of Interstate 5 when he allowed his truck to drift into the southbound lanes where it sideswiped a 2013 Peterbilt semi-truck.
The Volvo then collided head-on with a 2004 Lexus ES330, driven by a 24-year-old man of Lemoore.
The impact of the collision caused the Peterbilt semi-truck, which was towing a tanker with 8,600 gallons of fuel to overturn, spilling an undetermined amount of fuel on the road.
Chargualaf, who was a passenger in the Lexus, was killed in the accident.
A 21-year-old Lemoore man who was a passenger in the Lexus passenger and the Lexus driver sustained serious injuries in the accident.
The Volvo driver suffered minor injuries in the collision.
No other information was provided.
An investigation into the accident is ongoing.