Vigil held for 2 men killed in crash following Ceres police chase
CERES - The driver and passenger of a vehicle that was being pursued by police in Ceres were both killed after they were ejected from the car in a crash Thursday night, the California Highway Patrol said.
The Ceres Police Department said officers with the Modesto Police Department first contacted four men in a grey Ford Fusion parked near Hatch Road and Jim Way shortly before 9 p.m.
The vehicle took off east on Hatch Road and entered Highway 99. Ceres police say that is when they first followed the driver and then began their pursuit after he sped around other vehicles on the shoulder.
"The driver of the vehicle decided to drive recklessly and put the public in danger with his driving maneuvers before we had even conducted a traffic stop. I believe that played onto the decision for activating a pursuit," said Dirk Nieuwenhuis, public information officer for the Ceres Police Department.
Nieuwenhuis says every pursuit by the department is thoroughly reviewed to determine if protocols were properly followed.
"It's also debriefed so everybody can be on the same page and go over what went right, what went wrong and how it can be better moving forward," he said.
After an investigation, the CHP said a 20-year-old man from Modesto was driving the 2016 Ford Fusion being pursued east on Keyes Road and was approaching Geer Road.
A 2016 Ford Mustang, driven by a 17-year-old from Hughson, was approaching the Keyes Road intersection at the time.
The CHP said the man driving the Fusion crashed into the right side of the teenager's Mustang in the intersection. The teenager was seriously injured and taken to the hospital.
In the Fusion being chased, both the driver and front seat passenger were ejected from the car and died at the scene. Two passengers in the backseat of that vehicle were also injured and taken to the hospital.
Family members on Friday night identified one of the two killed as Fernando Barajas. Barajas was the front-seat passenger in the vehicle.
"They didn't need to be chasing him like that," said Barajas' mother, Tanya Reyes.
They held a vigil Friday night remembering the two men at the intersection where they died, with dozens of family and friends attending.
"A goodhearted person. He was selfless. He helped everybody but himself," said Barajas' wife, Angelina Herrara, through tears at the vigil. "My daughter is never going to see her daddy again. He's never going to walk through those doors again and give his baby a kiss or a hug."
Reyes said she was on the phone with her son when the police chase began.
"I was on the phone with him. He said 'Mom, come get me.' I said, 'Where you going?' He says, 'They're chasing us.' Next thing I know, that was it. I hear nothing no more. The phone just, I hear nothing. My son was gone," Reyes said through tears.
Ceres police say their pursuit standard is to continue a chase until air units can come take over and police can back off.
Those air units arrived one minute after the crash at Geer and Keyes Roads.
