CA Army National Guardsman dies in Fresno County crash

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Clovis man was found dead by his coworkers following a single-vehicle car crash in the Fresno County foothills Sunday morning, the California Highway Patrol said. 

Just after 9 a.m., the CHP was alerted by members of the Army National Guard that they had located an overturned black sedan with a single male occupant inside at Tollhouse Road and Van Vleet.

They identified him as a coworker and said he was expected to report to work at 8 a.m., but when he didn’t show up, they went looking for him.

Investigators said the vehicle was located about 4 miles away from the man’s joint job training site at the Cal Fire station in Tollhouse. 

The CHP said the vehicle was traveling eastbound on Tollhouse Road when it left the roadway, hit a tree, and overturned.

The vehicle landed upside down on the south side of Tollhouse Road in a dry creek bed.

In addition to ground resources, officials say, the CHP helicopter was on a training flight two minutes from where the vehicle was discovered. Fire personnel requested their assistance as a paramedic was on board who, once on the ground, was able to make their way to the deceased driver.

As of Sunday morning, officers were unsure how long before the Lexus was located that the crash occurred.

A procession of law enforcement vehicles left the scene with the man’s body and stayed in formation until it reached the Fresno County Coroner’s Office. It was there that a brief tribute was paid to him with Cal Fire units displaying a large American flag between two Fresno County Fire extended truck ladders.

If anyone has information on this case, they are asked to please call the Fresno-area CHP office at (559) 705-2200.