Head-on collision on Maze Boulevard west of Modesto kills 3 women. CHP says driver was DUI
Three people died as the result of a head-on crash about 7:30 a.m. Thursday on Maze Boulevard/Highway 132 west of Modesto, the California Highway Patrol reports.
CHP officers who arrived on scene were told by fire department personnel that two people already had died from their injuries, according to a news release.
A third person, who had to be extricated from a car, was airlifted to Doctors Medical Center, where she, too, died.
The victims were Modesto and Stockton residents. The victims have not been identified.
The crash was west of Gates and Paradise roads. The preliminary investigation found that the driver of a 2010 Lexus sedan was speeding east on Maze when he allowed the car to drift onto the right shoulder.
The driver, 49-year-old Wyatt Gordon of Modesto, then veered to the left, causing the Lexus to turn in a northeasterly direction into the westbound lane, the CHP says.
He went directly into the path of a Hyundai sedan and the two vehicles collided. The Lexus then continued northeast and overturned into a field north of the road.
Gordon, who suffered minor injuries, was determined to be under the influence of alcohol, and was arrested.
One of those who died was his passenger, a 44-year-old Modesto woman.
The occupants of the 2015 Hyundai were a 67-year-old Modesto woman, who was driving, and a 64-year-old Stockton woman.
All parties were wearing their seat belts, the CHP says.
