Motorcycle fatality is investigated

By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee

Fresno police are investigating a fatal collision Sunday night between a motorcycle and a sports car near Blackstone and Ashlan avenues.

Lorenzo “Sancho” Fuentez Jr., 54, of Clovis was killed and his motorcycle passenger was injured.

The collision happened at 9:09 p.m., said Jason Musser, a detective with the department’s Collision Reconstruction Unit. Fuentez and a passenger were following another motorcycle south on Blackstone as the first motorcycle turned left near Swift Avenue and entered the parking lot of a fast-foot restaurant.

Fuentez, with passenger Mary Perez, 46, followed, but before Fuentez could enter the parking lot, he was struck by a Chevrolet Corvette northbound on Blackstone driven by an 18-year-old man. Fuentez was fatally injured and Perez was hurt.

Musser said that Perez and the two people who were on the first motorcycle reported that they never saw the Corvette. The investigation hasn’t determined why the Corvette driver did not see Fuentez. The driver told investigators that he saw the first motorcycle and lifted his foot off the gas but didn’t apply brakes. Musser said it is possible the driver may have been focused on the first motorcycle and not seen Fuentez.