CHP identifies SLO County man killed in late-night Cholame ‘Y’ crash that injured 8
A Creston man was killed Wednesday night in a two-vehicle crash at the Cholame “Y” intersection that also injured eight people, according to the CHP.
Juan Silva Casares, 48, sustained fatal injuries while traveling in a 1997 Ford F-150 that collided with a 2015 Honda Odyssey about 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from the CHP’s Templeton office.
Frederico Lopez Torres of Creston was driving the pickup truck — which was carrying three other Creston men, including Casares — westbound on Highway 46. No age was given for Torres in the news release.
At the same time, Zi Tao Pan, 39, of Fresno was driving his minivan, which carried multiple passengers, eastbound on Highway 46, the CHP said.
Pan entered the left turn lane at the intersection of Highway 46 and Highway 41, known as the Cholame “Y,” but didn’t see the pickup approaching the intersection, according to the CHP.
As Pan turned onto Highway 41 to head north toward Fresno, he drove into the path of the pickup, which was unable to stop in time, the CHP said. The vehicles collided, and both came rest in a westerly direction on the north shoulder of Highway 46 within the intersection.
Casares was the right front passenger in the pickup, and he succumbed to blunt force trauma injuries at the scene of the collision, the CHP said.
He was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the CHP.
According to the CHP, Creston resident Francisco Silva, 45, one of the passengers in the pickup, was transported to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispio via a CHP H-70 helicopter to be treated for major injuries including head, eye and ear lacerations.
Xiyu Yang, a passenger in the minivan, was transported by ambulance to Sierra Vista to be treated for her injuries. The CHP did not give her age, her hometown or the extent of her injuries.
The remaining six people involved in the collision, whose injuries ranged from minor to major, were transported to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton via San Luis Ambulance for treatment, the CHP said.
This story was originally published August 8, 2019 at 10:20 AM.
