Woman thrown from truck, 3 others injured in crash on Merced County highway

Four people were injured Tuesday when their pickup truck overturned on a Merced County highway, California Highway Patrol officers reported.

At around 4 p.m., Erik Manuel, 34, was driving north on Highway 99, north of Le Grand Road, in a 2002 Toyota Tundra at an unknown speed when he drifted into the center divider, Officer Moises Onsurez said. The truck landed on its side in the southbound lanes of the freeway, he said.

A 24-year-old woman was thrown from the vehicle and suffered major injuries, Onsurez said. She was flown to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.

An update on her condition was not available Tuesday.

The two other passengers, a 52-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, had minor injuries and were taken to Mercy Medical Center in Merced, Onsurez said.

Debris from the pickup truck struck a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado. No one in the Silverado was injured, Onsurez said.

Manuel said he was driving back home to Weaverville from a road trip to Jackson, Fla., with his girlfriend, her cousin and friend. He said he tried to turn the car around and lost control.

"I feel horrible," Manuel told the Sun-Star in an interview. "I fell asleep and when I woke up I was in the (median). Now I'm the least injured out of everyone."

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Woman thrown from truck, 3 others injured in crash on Merced County highway."