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Intersection sees second fatal crash within two weeks
Identity of Turlock victim released
second hatch crash
Robin Rocha, 65, of Turlock when her pickup collided with a second pickup (scroll below for photo) at Hatch Road and Central Avenue.

A 65-year-old Turlock woman was killed Saturday morning in a grinding crash on Hatch Road near Central Avenue, not far from where a Modesto woman was killed in a May 18 crash.

The crash occurred at approximately 6:47 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of Hatch Road near the TID substation at Central Avenue.

The victim was driving a black 1994 silver Chevrolet S10 pickup eastbound on Hatch Road when she approached Central Avenue. Two vehicles were in the left turn lane of northbound Central Avenue. The first vehicle cleared the turn while the driver of the pickup behind it, a 2003 black Chevrolet Silverado, turned left onto westbound Hatch from northbound Central Avenue where the two collided. Robin Rocha’s pickup collided with the Silverado, killing her instantly.

Ceres Police traffic Officer Freddie Ortiz said it’s not known which driver violated right of way. The cause of the collision is still under investigation but drugs or alcohol does not appear to be a factor in this collision.

The driver of the Chevrolet Silverado, Raul Soto Hernandez, 53, of Modesto, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of injuries.

Anyone with information about this traffic collision is asked to contact Officer Freddie Ortiz at 538-5678.

On May 18 Martha Guzman of Modesto was killed on Hatch Road immediately south of the CVS Pharmacy in the westbound lanes of Hatch Road just west of Central Avenue. Guzman’s red 2013 Toyota Corolla was eastbound on Hatch Road when it jumped the center median curb and went into the westbound where it was struck head-on by a 2006 Chevy Silverado pickup. It’s unknown why Guzman allowed her car to drift.

3 hatch road crash 2
Raul Soto Hernandez, 53, of Modesto, was driving this Chevy Silverado during a left turn from northbound Central Avenue onto westbound Hatch when the fatal crash occurred. Hernandez survived.