The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office has released the identity of the victim in Thursday morning’s fatality on Highway 101 near San Juan Bautista.
The victim was 47-year-old Arnie Almaguer of Salinas, according to Detective Terri Edwards with the sheriff’s office, also the county coroner.
The California Highway Patrol responded to the fatal traffic collision Thursday morning at 6:52 a.m. on Northbound U.S. Highway 101 just south of Rocks Road, about 14 minutes south of Gilroy and not far from San Juan Bautista.
The accident caused CHP to close a portion of the highway for at least an hour, forcing traffic to turn around at Rocks Road, according to the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page. The coroner and units from Bracco’s towing were called to the scene.
As of 9:15, the CHP reported that traffic was still backed up about a quarter-mile on northbound Hwy. 101 at the Echo Valley turnoff. CHP rerouted traffic onto Rocks Road to Hwy. 156 as they cleared up the accident.
Check back for more details.
