The driver who died in a fiery wreck south of Woodland on Sunday has been identified as an Esparto teenager.
Francisco Gutierrez, 17, died at the scene of the crash, which occurred shortly after midnight on County Road 25A west of County Road 99. The Yolo County Coroner’s Office is still investigating his cause and manner of death.
California Highway Patrol officers said Gutierrez was at the wheel of a 1999 Ford Explorer that, according to evidence at the scene, made a hard left turn before swerving back to the right, causing the vehicle to rotate and run off the roadway. The vehicle then struck a tree and caught fire.
A second fatal crash occurred at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at County Roads 89 and 31 north of Winters, where a driver making an unsafe passing maneuver died in a head-on collision. That driver had not been identified as of late Thursday afternoon, coroner’s officials said.