Two killed in crash west of Arbuckle

Two Arbuckle men were killed when a pickup truck smashed into a nut bankout wagon that pulled out in front of it on Hillgate Road west of Arbuckle Tuesday morning, the California Highway Patrol said.

Travis Green, 19, and Jaime Gomez, 36, were pronounced dead at the scene, the CHP said.

The accident occurred about 10:20 a.m. just west of Whiskey Creek Road.

The Ford pickup truck, driven by Green, was eastbound when the farm equipment, driven by Gomez, pulled out from a driveway, also heading east, and the vehicles collided, the CHP said.

“He turned right in front of him,” said Sgt. Pete Montez, who did not believe the sun was a factor.

The wagon, which was being used for the almond harvest but was empty, spun and ejected the driver.

The pickup continued another 100 feet and overturned, coming to rest on its roof on the north side of the road, the CHP said.

The road was blocked for several hours.

Montez said the investigation is ongoing, and Cal-OSHA is on scene because of the involvement of the farm equipment.

Gomez was a longtime employee of T&P Farms of Arbuckle, which is owned by Tom and Perry Charter.

Officials at T&P Farms could not be reached for comment.

Green is a 2011 graduate of Pierce High.

“Obviously any time you lose a former student it is a loss for the whole school community,” Pierce High principal George Griffin said.

“And the other gentlemen who was killed has relatives at the school, so that is also going to be hard.”

Vice principal Don Friel described Green as “a good kid, always upbeat and happy.”

It is the second fatal accident in 11 days in Colusa County, claiming the lives of three people.
Jordan Hillis, 17, of Colusa, died in a single-vehicle rollover accident on Sept. 21 on Lonestar Road north of Ware Road.

Results from the investigation into that crash are still pending as well.