Alcohol likely involved in fatal Fresno County crash, part of a deadly weekend statewide

A 24-year-old Selma man was killed after he was thrown from his truck in a rollover crash Saturday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The incident is still under investigation, but CHP believes alcohol was a factor in the Memorial Day weekend crash.

The man, who was not identified pending notification of family, was driving a 1996 Toyota Tacoma south on Clovis Avenue around 6:38 a.m., just east of Malaga.

As he passed Central Avenue, he drifted into the center divider, then over-corrected to the right, CHP said.

The truck swerved to the right across both southbound lanes and overturned several times into a vineyard. It came to rest on its wheels in a nearby almond orchard.

The man was not wearing a seat belt, the CHP said.

Statewide, at least 18 people have been killed in crashes during the Memorial Day weekend, according to CHP. There were 741 DUI arrests made by CHP in the first 30 hours of the holiday weekend.

At a DUI checkpoint on Saturday, five people were arrested on suspicion of DUI, Fresno police said.

In Merced County, four people were killed in a crash on Highway 152 on Sunday, including two children and a pregnant woman who was not wearing her seatbelt, CHP reported. Alcohol was not believed to have been a factor.

In half of the deaths from crashes this weekend, those who died were not wearing seat belts, CHP said.

This story was originally published May 27, 2019 at 9:11 AM.