LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol is continuing its investigation into a fatal early Sunday crash near Lower Lake that took a Clearlake woman’s life.
The crash, which is believed to have happened between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., occurred on Highway 29 just north of Highway 53, according to an initial collision report from CHP Officer Greg Buchholz of the Clear Lake Area office.
The two people involved – a 27-year-old male driver and a 31-year-old female passenger, both from Clearlake – were not named in the CHP report.
Buchholz’s report explained that the male subject was driving his 1984 Chevy El Camino southbound on Highway 29 near Bell Park Road and north of Highway 53 at an unknown speed when, for an unknown reason, he allowed the vehicle to go off the side of the right side of the road.
The vehicle went down an embankment and struck a walnut tree, the report stated.
The driver walked away from his vehicle and back up to Highway 29, the report said. He reported that on the highway he received a ride from an unknown party who to took him to the Tower Mart in Lower Lake.
The man’s parents were contacted and responded to the Tower Mart, and they took the young man to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, the report explained.
At approximately 8:55 a.m. the hospital contacted the CHP advising the male driver was there and that he had been involved in a traffic collision, according to the report.
Buchholz’s report said the driver could not give an exact location where the collision had occurred or if there was anyone with him in the vehicle at the time. The man sustained major injuries in the crash.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office found the vehicle at approximately 9:14 a.m., Buchholz reported.
The female victim was found in the right front seat area of the vehicle. Buchholz said she had sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt.
Alcohol and/or drugs may have been involved in the crash, and a blood sample was taken from the driver, Buchholz reported.
He said the collision investigation has continued throughout the day and was still ongoing early Sunday evening.