Suspect dies after hit-and-run crashes in Atwater, police say

A 59-year-old Merced man was killed Saturday night after he apparently struck at least two cars, possibly while driving drunk, and then crashed into a canal off Avenue One in Atwater, the Police Department reported.

The body of Reynaldo Gonzalez Chavez was found around 10 p.m. inside his partially submerged 1997 Toyota Corolla. Officers said his body was not under water when they found him. Emergency responders scrambled to provide life-saving medical help, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, Cheif Samuel Joseph said.

Police said they found several empty beer cans inside his car and believe he may have been under the influence of alcohol. An autopsy will be conducted early this week to determine the exact cause of death.

Investigators believe Gonzalez Chavez was the driver suspected of striking at least two cars about 40 minutes earlier in the area of Avenue One and Buhach Road. Witnesses told police the driver of a brown Corolla struck the vehicles and sped away from the scene, quickly disappearing when it “blacked out,” Joseph said.

There were no injuries in the collisions, officers said.

Officers searched the area at the time of the crash but didn’t find the Toyota.

They returned to the area around 10 p.m. when someone called police to report finding a car in the canal.

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Suspect dies after hit-and-run crashes in Atwater, police say."