CHP identifies driver killed in fiery Oct. 16 crash on Highway 108

A man who died in a fiery five-vehicle wreck on Highway 108 last month was identified by California Highway Patrol on Thursday as Marcial Sanchez, 60, of Modesto.

Sanchez died after he became trapped in the 2015 Toyota Tacoma pickup he was driving that caught fire as a result of the crash on Oct. 16, which also sent three others to the hospital with minor injuries.

It was unknown at the time if drugs or alcohol were factors, and CHP Officer Steve Machado said on Thursday that the investigation was ongoing and findings as to exactly what happened have not been released.

Machado said the CHP has not received any updates on the conditions of the other injured people since the crash, but the agency also has not been informed that any of them suffered any further serious injuries.

The crash happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. as Sanchez was driving the Toyota east on Highway 108 west of Sanguinetti Road at 55 to 65 mph.

Sanchez approached the back of a 2007 Chevy Avalanche being driven east at about the same rate of speed by Brian McGregor, 52, of Moccasin, whom Sanchez attempted to pass by driving on the right shoulder of the highway, according to a CHP news release three days after the crash.

The left side of the Toyota struck the right side of the Chevy as Mcgregor drove toward his left to avoid a collision, with the resulting impact pushing the Chevy into the westbound lane and directly into the path of an oncoming 2007 Dodge pickup being driven by Evan Hatler, 65, of Coulterville, who was towing a trailer.

Mcgregor lost control of the Chevy as it struck the side of the Dodge’s trailer and drove

off the north edge of the highway, before it went down the north embankment and came to a stop after the right front side struck a boulder.

Hatler was able to maintain control of the Dodge and came to a stop in the westbound lane of Highway 108 west of Sanguinetti Road uninjured.

Sanchez lost control and went careening into the westbound lane of the highway before the front of the Toyota struck the left front of a 2009 Subaru Forester driven by Colleen Kotoske, 56, of Jamestown.

Kotoske drove off the north edge of the roadway after losing control of the Subaru, which rolled over down the north embankment before coming to a rest on its roof.

The Toyota continued out of control in the westbound lane and was struck on its right side by the front of a 1994 GMC Suburban driven by Arturo Balderas, 62, of Modesto, who had a 7-year-old boy from Modesto as his passenger.

After getting hit by the GMC, the Toyota immediately caught fire, and Sanchez was reportedly trapped inside the vehicle as a result of both the crash and blaze.

A witness assisted Balderas and his juvenile passenger, whose name has not been released, get out of the GMC before it, too, caught fire.

Balderas, his passenger, and Kotoske were taken to Adventist Health Sonora for treatment of injuries that the CHP described in the news release as minor. Mcgregor also was listed as suffering minor injuries, but was not transported to the hospital.

The highway was completely blocked for about three hours after the crash due to the investigation and subsequent clean-up.