Victim in fatal accident identified

A Livingston man killed in an early morning crash on New Year's Day has been identified as 26-year-old Julio Rojas Romero, according to Deputy Tom MacKenzie, coroner's spokesman.

Romero's 1994 Honda was traveling south on Highway 99 in the left lane at an unknown rate of speed around 5:35 a.m., according to a California Highway Patrol report.

For unknown reasons, his car drifted into the right southbound lane and onto the right shoulder. The front of the Honda struck the guardrail and the G Street bridge railing, causing major front-end damage to the vehicle, the CHP said.

After it struck the bridge railing, the Honda traveled back into the left southbound lane and stopped.

Romero wasn't wearing a seatbelt and suffered major injuries. He was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center Merced where he was later pronounced dead.

-- Victor A. Patton