One dead in high-speed crash on Blackstone Avenue. Police suspect it was a street race

UPDATE: Driver killed while road racing identified by Fresno coroner. He was 18 years old

One driver was killed and another injured Monday afternoon when what Fresno Police suspect was a street race on Blackstone Avenue turned into a high-speed, three-car collision.

Police collision reconstruction unit detectives were combing the scene at Blackstone and San Jose avenues long after the crash happened about 1:30 p.m. and Blackstone was closed in both directions between Shaw and Barstow avenues into the evening.

“What they have determined so far, and this is based on witness statements as well as surveillance from different businesses up and down Blackstone, was that a Dodge Charger was street racing with another vehicle,” Police Lt. Bill Dooley said. “It was a pickup truck that was not involved in the accident. The Charger was traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Blackstone when it struck a red pickup truck, which was also traveling north. That collision caused the Charger to spin into the intersection and it struck a black pickup truck that was traveling southbound, on a green.”

The driver of the Charger was unresponsive at the scene and transported to Community Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased. The driver of the black truck also was taken to CRMC with a shoulder injury, and the driver of the red truck was not injured.

The identities of the drivers were not immediately available.

Fresno Police, Dooley said, had video of the Charger and a pickup believed to be involved in a street race south of Shaw Avenue. Detectives are working to identify the driver of that pickup.

“What we don’t know, is how early did that driver break away?” Dooley said. “Did the other vehicle break off at Shaw Avenue and this guy was just driving at a high rate of speed by himself?

“We’re still trying to figure that one out. We don’t know if the other driver actually has any culpability or criminal attachments to this accident.”

The traffic accident fatality was the 10th in Fresno this year. Blackstone in both directions was closed between Shaw and Barstow avenues as detectives investigated the incident; it was hours before cars were allowed to exit parking lots onto Blackstone in the shut-down area.

“Street racing itself, when you’re either racing as a group or side by side, it presents a danger not only to those that are actually involved in the racing, but other people that are around,” Dooley said.

“This is a busy street, not just with vehicle traffic, but also pedestrian traffic, we have people that are moving in and out of Blackstone on foot. When you’re traveling at a high rate of speed it takes a long time, or longer, to actually react and that’s probably what happened with this one. It might be fun. It might be a good time to be able to slam that accelerator and travel at a high rate of speed, but this is what happens.”

This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 5:42 PM.