Family, Friends Remember Modesto City Employee Killed In Garbage Truck Crash
MODESTO (CBS13) — New information has been released about a Modesto city employee who was killed in a garbage truck crash.
The Stanislaus County Coroner's office has identified him as 52-year-old Johnny Garcia Jr.
Friends and family are mourning the loss of Garcia, a boyfriend, father, and grandfather who died in a crash on Finch Road in Modesto Monday afternoon.
"They were just here. We had Thanksgiving together. I didn't realize that would be the last time I saw him," Carol Bass, Garcia's girlfriend's mother, said.
Rodney Clark worked with Garcia and said he loved riding his motorcycle.
"I thought he was going to get killed by a motorcycle because that's what he loved, riding bikes," Clark said. "And he had a few bad accidents, close calls on his motorcycle."
The CHP says Garcia was driving west on Finch Road in a garbage truck loaded with tree trimmings and was just a half-block away from the waste disposal facility when, for some reason, he veered off the road. The truck plowed into a cement planter and crashed through a chainlink fence before hitting a tree in front of a parking lot.
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Officers said it was raining at the time of the crash, but they don't know if the weather was a factor. Additionally, they say Garcia was not wearing a seatbelt, but the CHP did not know if it contributed to his death.
While officers investigate the crash, his family and friends are remembering him for his love of children and his love of motorcycles as they try to cope with his loss during the holidays.
"Johnny was one of those kinds, he loved kids," Bass said. "He's got several kids, you know, he's got grandkids."
He was also a member of the motorcycle club Dysturbed Ryders. The group held a candlelight memorial at the scene of the crash on Tuesday.