Pursuit of burglary suspects ends in deadly crash in northwest Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A woman is dead, and a man was seriously injured after a high-speed chase on a county island in northwest Fresno.

Fresno County sheriff's deputies identified the victim identified as 46-year-old Gaylene Herrera of Clovis. Late Tuesday, the driver was identified as Cline Garner.

Deputies said they were working on a burglary case when they spotted the potential suspects. When deputies tried to pull over the pair, they took off.

The motorcycle lost control at the center median, and Garner and Herrera were thrown across the intersection.

The mangled motorcycle came to rest more than the length of a football field away. Sheriff's deputies say Garner was going more than 100 miles an hour when he lost control as he approached the train tracks at Palm and Dakota. The marks on the median show the damage.

The ruined bike wasn't all deputies found at the crash site, a significant amount of stolen property was also discovered.

Just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, deputies were in the area investigating a series of crimes happening in the neighborhood.

"The large number of burglaries that occurred were actually last night (Monday), which prompted the deputies to focus on the burglaries tonight (Tuesday)," said Lt. John Reynolds. "These are vehicle burglaries which mail property from the vehicles was being taken."

Investigators found evidence of mail theft at the crash scene, including stolen credit cards.

Neighbors said the intersection is dangerous, and speeds at times reflect more of a freeway than a 40 mile an hour stretch of road surrounded by residential homes.

"Several times a day people are just racing up and down Palm and accidents occur frequently," said Esther Koers.

Only usually, the suspects aren't being pursued by deputies. Detectives said they are now trying to piece together the crimes while CHP officers investigate the pursuit and deadly crash.

Garner has been booked in the Fresno County Jail. He remains in critical condition at CRMC.