The coroner’s office this week released the name of a 22-year-old motorist killed in a two-vehicle crash in Agua Dulce.
He was Hugo Veliz Calero of Palmdale.
The crash occurred at 6:25 p.m. Monday, June 13, on Ward Road west of Sierra Highway and involved a 1997 Toyota driven by Calero and a 52-year-old motorist in a 2016 Ford with a loaded trailer, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The Toyota driver was heading west on Ward Road and passed the Ford near Sierra Highway, then slowed and began to steer toward the right curb as if he was going to stop. The Ford driver, seeing that the Toyota was pulling to the right and slowing, changed to the No. 1 lane and accelerated to about 40 mph as it began to pass the Toyota.
For unknown reasons, the Toyota driver accelerated from the right curb, turned left across the No. 2 lane and directly in the path of the Ford, according to the CHP.
The motorist in the Ford applied the brakes, but still struck the left side doors of the Toyota, causing the Toyota to move across two eastbound lanes of Sierra Highway.
Calero was airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital, where he died from his injuries, authorities said. He was the lone occupant in his vehicle. The Ford driver was uninjured.
