A 22-year-old local man was killed Saturday in a motorcycle
accident on Panoche Road near the intersection of Airline
Highway.
A 22-year-old local man was killed Saturday in a motorcycle accident on Panoche Road near the intersection of Airline Highway.
Jacob Michael Marquez, 22, of Hollister was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, the San Benito County Coroner’s Office said.
Crash investigators with the California Highway Patrol are still trying to determine the circumstances leading up to the tragic accident.
Although the crash is still under investigation, the CHP said the 4 p.m. accident appears to have happened when Marquez was westbound on Panoche Road riding a green and black Kawasaki Ninja 600 motorcycle at an unknown speed.
For an unknown reason, Marquez’s motorcycle ran off the roadway onto the dirt shoulder on the northern edge of the road, the CHP said. As it left the road, the motorcycle struck a steel drainage culvert, causing it to overturn. Both Marquez and the motorcycle struck a fence made of wood and wire, the CHP said.
A friend who was riding just ahead of Marquez flagged down San Benito County Deputy Sheriff Mark Lema, who was on patrol in the area. Lema radioed for help from paramedics and began emergency medical efforts, the sheriff’s department said. An ambulance that was stationed at a nearby event arrived at the scene moments later and continued emergency medical treatment.
Despite the effort to save Marquez’s life, he died at the scene from his injuries, the coroner’s office said.
Coroner’s officials said an autopsy will be conducted today to determine the exact cause of Marquez’s death.
The CHP said that neither drugs nor alcohol appear to have played a role in the crash.
