Camp Connell, CA…On May 27th, 2017, at approximately 0600 hours, CHP was notified of a solo ATV accident that happened in the Stanislaus National Forest above the Camp Connell area. The injured party had been transported, by friends, to the Murphys area, due to cell-phone coverage, and was being transported by ambulance to Sonora Regional Medical Center. CHP responded to the hospital and contacted Mr. Sanchez who was later determined to be the passenger in this collision. The investigating officer then responded to the location where the parties were camping and contacted the driver who related the following…

At approximately 0200 hours, Valencia was driving a Polaris/ATV traveling eastbound on USFS Road 6N65 when they came across a tree that was blocking the roadway. The driver was making a u-turn when the Polaris hit a rut and overturned onto the passenger side. Sanchez stuck his arm out to block the fall, but in doing so got his arm caught under the overturning vehicle.

Do to the amount of time elapsed between the collision and contact with the driver, it is unknown if alcohol and/or drugs was a contributing factor in this collision.