Deputy Antonio “Tony” Hinostroza, 45, who died in a solo vehicle crash near Riverbank in route to an emergency call on Sunday evening, began his law enforcement career as a Ceres Police explorer.

Deputy Hinostroza was responding to assist Riverbank Police Services deputies on a vehicle pursuit when he collided with a power pole at the intersection of Terminal Avenue and Claribel Road just before 10 p.m.
A 19-year veteran with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, Hinostroza was a Police Explorer for Ceres Police Department from 1990 until 1992 before he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After he left the service in 1996 he worked as a reserve police officer and dispatcher for the city of Waterford before being hired by then-Sheriff Les Weidman. He became a deputy sheriff in January 1999 and was most recently assigned to the patrol division. During his 19-year career, Deputy Hinostroza served as a patrol deputy, police canine handler, gang unit detective, SWAT team member, and field training officer.

Hinostroza leaves behind one adult son.
According to a press release issued by the department, at 9:48 p.m., Riverbank Police Services deputies were dispatched to Oakdale and Patterson roads near Riverbank for a report of a driver of a silver-colored Cadillac Escalade passed out behind the wheel. Deputies found the car and the driver sped off, leading deputies on a pursuit. Deputies deployed spike strips to disable the Escalade at Fine Avenue and Cambridge Court in Modesto. The driver fled from the vehicle and when he began fighting deputies they deployed a bean bag round to subdue him and take him into custody.
Meanwhile, dispatchers began taking 911 calls about a Sheriff’s Department patrol car that crashed into a utility pole at Terminal Avenue and Claribel Road. Emergency personnel quickly arrived on scene and attempted to save Deputy Hinostroza, but he died at the scene.

The driver of the Escalade, Jonathan Carrillo-Gonzalez, 30, of Modesto, was arrested for driving under the influence, felony evasion, and resisting arrest. His license to drive had been suspended in June for DUI and he has at least three prior convictions for DUI in the past nine years.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.

This is the second time in 19 months that a Stanislaus County deputy has died in a solo crash. On May 13, 2017 Deputy Jason Garner, 41, and Community Service Officer Raschel Johnson were killed when the car he was driving crashed into a tire shop at Crows Landing Road and Seventh Street. The deputy was not rolling to an emergency but investigators determined that he was traveling at 89 mph when he lost control. The investigation into that crash, which took a lengthy 14 months, concluded that Garner suffered an undisclosed health-related condition that “rendered him incapable of cognitively controlling a motor vehicle.”