Documents: Flask smelling of alcohol found in SUV involved in fatal Fresno crash

Flask found in SUV in fatal Fresno crash with bus

FRESNO, Calif. — A crushed metal flask that smelled of alcohol was found in the wreckage of an SUV hit by a Greyhound bus in a crash that killed six people, according to search warrant documents released Thursday.

Authorities have said the SUV driver, 18-year-old Sylvia Garay of Dinuba, had a blood-alcohol content above the legal limit in the July 22 crash on Highway 99. The SUV crashed before it was struck by the oncoming bus.

Garay and her two passengers, Stephanie Cordoba, 20, and Vanessa Gonzalez, 19, were killed along with three people aboard the bus, including the driver.

Cordoba also had alcohol in her system, authorities said.

The documents filed in Fresno County Superior Court show California Highway Patrol investigators were seeking a search warrant to confiscate the flask and obtain a copy of Garay’s cell phone records. They want to find out who provided alcohol to the minors.

Garay attended a dance party in Fresno before the crash, friends said .

Cordoba and Gonzalez had wrists bands from a club that indicated they were under 21 years old, according to the documents.

Vance Wedeking, a CHP spokesman, said he could not comment on the documents or the ongoing investigation. He said a final report was pending.

A preliminary investigation shows Garay made an abrupt left turn across the northbound lanes of the highway and hit the center divider just after 2 a.m,, flipping the Chevy Trailblazer on its side.

Garay, Cordoba and Gonzalez were apparently getting out of the vehicle when the bus struck the wreckage.