On March 30, 2019 at approximately 9:33 p.m. ,Merced Communications Center (MCC) advised of a traffic collision in the area of Ashby Road Rd. Units responded to the scene with the first units arriving at approximately 9:45 pm.
Upon arrival, fire department personnel were in the process of performing Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on a party who had been ejected from his motorcycle. The party succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.
The investigation revealed that Adrian Araujo (29 out of Merced) was driving a Dodge truck pulling a utility trailer on Ashby Road, west of Trindade Road and was attempting to back the trailer into a driveway. The truck/trailer combo were perpendicular to the road and was across the westbound lane of Ashby Road. The rider (43 year old male out of Merced) was driving a Honda Motorcycle westbound on Ashby Road, approaching the truck/trailer at an unknown speed. The rider failed to notice the truck/trailer blocking the westbound lane and the front of Honda as well as rider, collided with the left fender of Dodge truck. The rider was fully ejected from the Honda was propelled in a northwesterly direction, coming to rest in the eastbound lane.
Araujo was interviewed and was not found to be under the influence. It is unknown if the rider was under the influence of drugs/alcohol at time of the collision . The collision is still under investigation, according to CHP.
