According to the California Highway Patrol, the incident occurred on December 27 in the parking lot of Hidahl Elementary School on East Redwood Road.
Ceres, CA – A 16-year-old Ceres boy sustained major injuries after he fell from a moving pickup truck Saturday afternoon in a parking lot of an elementary school in Ceres, authorities reported.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the incident occurred on December 27 in the parking lot of Hidahl Elementary School on East Redwood Road.
The Modesto Fire Department responded to the scene and found the teen with traumatic injuries and in cardiac arrest. An AMR ambulance crew provided medical aid at the scene and transported the boy to Doctors Medical Center, from where he was taken to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland.
A GMC pickup truck was parked near the scene. The driver, another 16-year-old Ceres boy, was uninjured.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver was driving the truck within the school’s parking lot and the victim was sitting on the GMC’s lowered tailgate. The driver accelerated the vehicle, causing the juvenile to fall from the tailgate onto the asphalt parking lot.
Investigators do not believe alcohol or drugs played a role in the incident.
In 2023, the City of Ceres reported a total of 241 victims killed and injured in traffic collisions, an increase from 207 in 2022. The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) ranked Ceres 19th out of 93 similar-sized cities for total fatal and injury collisions in 2023, indicating a relatively high rate compared to its peers. A significant portion of these incidents involved specific contributing factors or vulnerable road users. Alcohol involvement accounted for 34 victims killed or injured in 2023, a notable increase from 24 in 2022, resulting in a ranking of 17th among the 93 cities. Pedestrians were involved in 14 killed/injured cases in 2023, slightly up from 12 the previous year. Bicyclists accounted for 7 killed/injured victims in 2023, more than double the 3 reported in 2022. Motorcycle-involved killed/injured cases also increased, rising from 5 in 2022 to 8 in 2023. Overall state-level data suggests that speeding and impaired driving remain primary crash factors across California, contributing to the context of local accident trends.
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