An accident in Turlock, California, early Monday morning, June 22nd, claimed the life of Joey Branco, a 40-year-old motorcyclist from Atwater. The accident report disclosed that the man was a victim of a hit-and-run crash at the intersection of Lander Avenue and Greenway Avenue.    

At about 2 a.m., the Turlock Police Department received a report about the collision. A preliminary investigation showed that a Volkswagen driver identified as Ernest Valenzuela, 49, of Turlock, was heading southbound on Lander when he turned left into Greenway.

The California Highway Patrol said that the act placed the motorist in the path of Branco, and the two collided. The victim sustained fatal wounds, and the paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Valenzuela fled the site of the collision but later placed a call to the police identifying himself as the driver involved in the accident.

The police located him at his residence and placed him under arrest. They charged him with suspicion of felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. The CHP believes that the man was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the collision. There is no additional information.

A hit-and-run is a severe offense in the state of California, and prosecutors try it either as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances of each case. In proving the offense, the prosecutor must show that the offender failed to remain at the scene of an accident, offer help to an injured person, or leave behind his or her contact information.

Disclaimer: The Accident News article you just read includes information obtained from numerous sources. These sources include, but are not limited to, websites and press releases from law enforcement, the county coroner, fire departments, and other news outlets. While we strive to provide readers with the most accurate information, sometimes the information received is not entirely accurate. For complete details, please refer to an official police report.

The articles published contain sensitive subject matter that may be hard to read by some. We understand that losing a loved one is hard and devastating. Accident News’s decision to share the stories is to help others who may be facing the same situations by providing appropriate resources to the general public.

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