Arrest made in Thursday’s fatal crash near Delhi. Suspect accused of vehicular manslaughter

A 20-year-old man who was allegedly speeding has been arrested in a fatal Thursday crash which killed a 61-year-old driver near Delhi.

Alfonso Perez Gonzalez of Winton, who would have turned 62 on Friday, was driving north on North Vincent Road and was preparing to take a left turn onto Linwood Road, north of Delhi, at about 5:50 a.m. Thursday, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.

For unknown reasons, Efren Ceballos Gonzalez of Delhi, who was driving a 2014 Lexus sedan, failed to see the Toyota slowed down and rear-ended the vehicle. The collision caused the Toyota to travel northeast, crashing into a PG&E utility pole on the east shoulder of Vincent Road.

Witnesses at the scene told investigators Efren Ceballos Gonzalez was driving somewhere between 70 and 100 mph in a 55 mph zone before the collision, according to the release.

Alfonso Perez Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene. Efren Ceballos Gonzalez was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto for treatment of moderate injuries.

Efren Ceballos Gonzalez was released from the hospital, arrested and booked into Merced County Jail on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to have been a factor in the crash, the release states.