Paulie Nunez Cortez Left Dead After Crash

Paulie Pryce Nunez Cortez, 21, of Tulare, was killed on June 18 in an accident involving a semi-truck on the Interstate 5 Freeway, just south of Stockdale Highway.

The Kern County coroner’s office identified Paulie Nunez Cortez the as the young victim who died in the collision due to blunt injuries. Additionally, the deadly collision happened about 5:56 a.m. on Friday, June 18th morning, just north of the Kern County Raceway Park.

The California Highway Patrol reported one person died in the two-vehicle crash on the northbound side of the I-5 Freeway. The vehicle Cortez was riding in caught on fire and became fully engulfed in flames, the report said. It wound up in the center divider of the freeway. Police did not say how many people occupied the vehicle at the time.

Meanwhile, the semi truck loaded with more than 35,000 pounds of solar panels was blocking all lanes of the freeway. Traffic following the Bakersfield crash on Interstate 5 was moved to the shoulder of the freeway.