Driver dies after car plunges into Sacramento River near Walnut Grove

A Fresno County man was killed Thursday in a vehicle accident on a Delta levee near Walnut Grove that sent his car into the Sacramento River.

In a news release, the California Highway Patrol’s South Sacramento office said that the 27-year-old had been driving along River Road, which runs atop the levee, just north of Vorden Road around 4:45 p.m. when he lost control of his 2020 Toyota Camry.

The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Nicolas Orozco, a resident of Kerman, near Fresno.

Witnesses to the crash said Orozco was driving fast and went over the embankment, tumbling into the river below.

The car, with Orozco in it, was submerged for several hours before the Sacramento County Drowning Accident Rescue Team were able to retrieve the car. The driver was removed from the Toyota and declared dead at the scene.

CHP investigators do not know if drugs or alcohol were a factor, but said in a prepared statement that the crash was “another tragic example of a fatal traffic collision due to excessive speed” along the dangerous stretch of the delta.