Two men were killed when the ATVs they were driving collided, causing both drivers to be ejected from the vehicles. The incident occurred along the Hassayampa River bottom, an area commonly used for off-road vehicle drag racing.
Jesus Chavez was traveling north on the river bottom, east of 399th Avenue and north of Indian School Road, when he and Dana Coerver who was heading east, crashed into one another. Chavez was twenty-three-years-old and Coerver was forty-seven-years-old. Both men hailed from Glendale.
MCSO deputies and fire personnel responded to the call. Chavez and Coerver were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told MCSO detectives, who arrived shortly thereafter, that unidentified persons had loaded Chavez’s ATV into a truck and departed. They also explained that Coerver had just completed a racing run, and was turning around, cutting across the informal drag strip, when the collision occurred.
The victims’ families were notified of the fatal accident. In addition, Chavez’s relatives told MCSO detectives they did not know who might have taken his ATV.
The case remains under investigation.