Coroner identifies passenger killed in Merced County rollover crash near Livingston

The Merced County Sheriff Coroner’s Office has identified the passenger killed in a rollover collision near Livingston on Tuesday morning as 19-year-old Meliton Gutierrez of Atwater, according to Deputy Daryl Allen.

Gutierrez and the driver of the vehicle, who has not been identified, were both ejected from a 1997 Ford Explorer that overturned multiple times along Westside Boulevard, west of Sultana Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Officers responded to the collision at about 4 a.m. and said the vehicle was traveling westbound on Westside Boulevard at a high speed when it traveled onto the dirt shoulder of the road and overturned, striking multiple almond trees.

According to CHP Officer Eric Zuniga, it appears neither occupant was wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision. The driver was flown to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto with major injuries and was last known to be in critical condition.

Zuniga said alcohol appears to be a factor in the collision, which remains under investigation.