Merced County, CA — May 27, 2025, one person was killed and Jessey Nothstein and another person were injured in a truck accident at about 10:20 p.m. on State Highway 99.
Authorities said a 1979 Chevrolet Silverado was headed north near Atwater Boulevard when it lost its camper shell. The driver was trying to move the camper shell out of the road when he was hit by a 2023 Freightliner, which swerved but was unable to avoid the collision.
The truck also crashed into the pickup, forcing it back onto the highway, where emergency personnel found a woman with major injuries.
The Chevrolet driver, whose name has not been made public yet, died at the scene of the crash near Atwater, while the 28-year-old Coarsegold woman was flown to a Modesto hospital for treatment, authorities said. It is not clear where she was at the time of the crash.
Truck driver Jessey Nothstein, 38, suffered moderate injuries in the crash, according to authorities.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Merced County crash at this time. The accident is still being investigated.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When people read about a crash like this one in Merced County, they naturally want to know: How did a camper shell end up in the middle of a highway at night? Was there anything the truck driver, or anyone else, could have done to prevent this?
Right now, there are more questions than answers. The initial reports say the pickup lost its camper shell, and the driver got out to retrieve it. At that point, a Freightliner swerved but still hit him, then crashed into the pickup, which somehow ended up back on the highway. One woman was seriously injured, but it’s not clear where she was at the time. That’s a critical gap in the facts. Was she in the truck? On the road? If she was in the path of the truck, it raises different questions than if she were struck by the pickup when it was thrown back into traffic.
Another big unknown is how the camper shell came off in the first place. Was it improperly secured? Did something break? That’s not a small detail; it speaks directly to whether the incident was avoidable. If the shell wasn’t installed properly, that’s not just bad luck; it could point to negligence. In the past, I’ve handled cases where loose cargo or equipment set off a chain of events leading to serious injuries or death. And it wasn’t always the driver who was to blame. Sometimes it was a shop that did shoddy installation work or failed to inspect the equipment before a trip.
As for the truck driver, reports say he swerved but couldn’t avoid hitting the man. That might suggest he didn’t have time to react, or it might raise questions about visibility, speed or attentiveness. Was he looking at the road? Was he fatigued? What does the truck’s black box show about speed and braking? Was there an in-cab camera that captured the moments before impact?
These are the kinds of questions an independent investigation has to answer. Cell phone records, dash cams and ECM data can all help piece together what happened and who, if anyone, was negligent. Without that, we’re left with speculation and unanswered questions that make it impossible to assign responsibility fairly.
Key Takeaways:
- It’s not clear how or why the camper shell detached, which is central to understanding how this crash unfolded.
- We don’t yet know where the injured woman was during the crash, which affects how her injuries may be evaluated.
- The truck driver swerved but still struck the man; black box data could show whether he had time to react or was impaired.
- Any investigation should look into how the camper shell was secured and whether the pickup was properly maintained.
- Independent evidence — ECM data, camera footage and call records — will be crucial to determine accountability.
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