Victim Identified In Highway 49 Crash

CHP officials have identified the drive of the pick-up truck that collided with a ten-wheeler dump truck and a trailer yesterday afternoon on Highway 49.

Officers says 65 year-old John Payne of Sonora was heading south on the highway near River Ranch Road when for unknown reasons allowed his Ford pick-up to drift across the center divider, hitting the side of a horse trailer, then bouncing off hitting the dump truck´s loaded trailer.

Neither the big rig driver or the driver of the vehicle pulling the horse trailer were injured. Payne suffered major injuries and was flown to Doctor´s Medical Center in Modesto.

Officers say the impact from Payne´s pick-up sheared off the trailer from the dump truck, overturning it and spilling gravel across the road. The crash shut down the highway for almost three hours.

The roadway was completely open just before 5 p.m. last night.