By Associated Press - Saturday, May 23, 2015

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) - Authorities in Yuma say a Southern California man is dead and another one has been hospitalized in an early morning crash involving a UTV.

The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to reports of a single-vehicle crash near Martinez Lake around 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

Sheriff’s spokesman Alfonso Zavala says it appears 31-year-old Ryan Swierk, of Jamul, California, was driving a four-seat UTV when he lost control.

The UTV crashed into a tree and Swierk was pronounced dead at the scene.

Zavala says a passenger, 39-year-old Julio Vasquez of Chula Vista, California, was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Zavala says the cause is still under investigation but alcohol appears to be a factor.

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