Two victims of separate fatal crashes in Merced County identified by authorities

Authorities have released the identities of two people killed in separate traffic crashes on the west side Merced County earlier this month.

The two men are: Jeb Stewart Brandy, 52, of San Jose and Victor Hernandez -Gonzalez, 40, of Santa Nella were killed in separate crashes on Nov. 10, Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Domingue said.

California Highway Patrol officers responded just before 5 p.m. to a collision involving a pedestrian on Interstate 5 south of State Route 33. According to a CHP investigation, Hernandez-Gonzalez was walking east within the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 when he was struck by a 2014 Audi driven by a 24-year-old Norwalk man.

The CHP said it appears the driver swerved in an attempt to avoid Hernandez-Gonzalez but struck the man with the front of the vehicle.

Shortly after 7 p.m. that same day, CHP officers responded to a crash involving a pickup truck and a motorcycle on Volta Road north of Highway 152. The CHP said a 32-year-old Los Banos man was driving a 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck south on Volta Road and crossed the broken yellow line in the roadway to make a left turn into a driveway. At the same time, Brandy was riding a 2020 Suzuki motorcycle on Volta Road in the opposite direction. The CHP said the front of the truck struck the front of the motorcycle and Brandy died of his injuries at the scene.

Authorities said neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a factor in either collision.