At about noon Sunday, a crash involving five cars was reported on Highway 152, just west of the Romero Visitor Center near Los Banos. It was followed by a second crash due to a halted truck at the scene, while both incidents involved Hollister drivers.
The crash was reported at 12:15 p.m. after Stacy Dominguez, 45, of Morgan Hill was driving a 1995 Lexus eastbound on Highway 152 in the slow lane. Dominguez’s car was sideswiped by a 1998 Toyota 4Runner driven by Joseph Dinner, 50, of Pacific Grove, according to Sgt. Luis Lara.
The Lexus and Toyota both traveled across the center divider into oncoming westbound traffic on Highway 152. The vehicles collided with a 2005 Dodge Magnum, driven by Aaron Cisneros, 25, of Orange Park and a 2000 Lincoln pickup driven by David Guest, 56, of Santa Cruz.
A fifth vehicle, a 2001 Ford Expedition driven by Florinda Ribeiro, 56, of Hollister, traveled down an embankment after the driver tried to avoid the crash.
The drivers of the 4Runner and the Lincoln were both flown to hospitals with major injuries. The other drivers all received minor injuries. Lara said DUI is considered to be a factor in the first Highway 152 crash.
Minutes later, another collision happened after a motorcycle crashed into a truck that had stopped because of the earlier crash involving five cars.
James Gibson, 65, of Hollister was driving a 2010 Ford truck in the westbound fast lane and had stopped because of the traffic, which had come to a halt because of the crash ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Bill Dascomb, 53, of Newman was riding a 2009 Harley-Davidson motorcycle behind the Ford. For unknown reasons, Dascomb failed to notice the Ford truck ahead of him had stopped, and he crashed into the rear of the vehicle.
Dascomb was flown to a regional hospital with major injuries. DUI is not believed to be a factor in the crash.
As of Sunday, eight people have been killed in Merced County traffic collisions in the past seven days.
