A 30-year-old Modesto man was killed Sunday afternoon in a motorcycle crash on Santa Fe Avenue near Lakewood Memorial Park.

The crash took place at 2:35 p.m. when Harley Mason-Kocher, the rider of the 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle was southbound on Santa Fe. Just north of Leedom Road he attempted to pass the car in front of him. According to the California Highway Patrol, Mason-Kocher pulled back into the southbound lane – likely because it wasn’t safe to pass – but clipped the rear of the 2015 Infiniti and lost control. The victim was thrown off his motorcycle and sustained fatal injuries. The CHP found his body lying on the west shoulder of Santa Fe Avenue.

The occupants of the car, 27-year-old driver Maria Gomez of Modesto, and her five-year-old passenger Evelyn Hernandez, were not injured. 

CHP investigators do not know if drugs or alcohol were a factor.