A woman became the third local vehicle v. pedestrian victim in nine days when she was struck by a vehicle just outside of the Ceres city limits Thursday evening

The latest fatal collision took place at approximately 11:42 p.m. on the southbound S. Ninth Street onramp to Highway 99. 

Ana Rodriguez, 53, of Winton was driving a 2001 Toyota pickup southbound on the onramp in the left lane when she saw the woman walking in her lane and was unable to avoid hitting her. The left front of the pickup struck the woman who came to rest in the road. She was declared dead at the scene by responding emergency personnel.

California Highway Patrol investigators haven’t determined if the woman was on drugs or intoxicated.

This was the third such crash taking the life of a local in nine days.

On Wednesday, Aug. 21, 35-year-old Ceres resident Jonathan Gilbert McKnight was killed when he was struck by multiple vehicles while running across a dark Highway 99 in Turlock. The death occurred in the southbound lanes south of Taylor Road and was reported at approximately 11:55 p.m. None of the drivers stopped.

An early morning hit-and-run crash on Saturday, Aug. 24 took the life of Johnny Perez, 40, of Modesto in southwest Ceres. Perez’s body was discovered by another motorist on Morgan Road south of Marchy Lane and reported at 3:48 a.m. The site is west of the Ceres wastewater treatment plant.

The driver had fled the scene.

Also on Thursday, an occupant of a car sustained minor injuries in a hit-and-run crash on Rockefeller Drive in Ceres. First-responders were dispatched at 1:37 p.m.