LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A local man who died in an early morning wreck in Napa County on Tuesday is being remembered for his energy and efforts to improve the community.
Jonathan Thorn, 32, of Lower Lake died in a double-fatal head-on crash on Highway 29, according to the Napa County office of the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the crash occurred at approximately 2:10 a.m. Tuesday on Highway 29 north of Bale Lane.
The other driver killed was 68-year-old Andress Hatch of Yountville, the CHP said.
The CHP said Hatch was driving his red 2014 Chevrolet Sonic southbound while Thorn was traveling northbound in a white 2010 Toyota Prius. The report said the two drivers were traveling at unknown speeds.
For reasons that the CHP said are still under investigation, Hatch’s Chevrolet crossed the solid double-yellow lines separating the northbound and southbound lanes, traveling the wrong way into the northbound lane.
There, Hatch’s Chevrolet collided head-on with Thorn’s Prius, the CHP said.
The CHP said both men died at the scene.
The report said that Thorn was wearing his seat belt but Hatch was not wearing his.
CHP Officer Marc Renspurger told Lake County News on Thursday that the investigation into the wreck is still under way.
“We still don’t have a definitive cause for the collision,” Renspurger said.
Renspurger said there are still toxicology reports and associated pieces of the investigation that have to take place. “And that’s not exactly a fast process.”
Thorn was involved in Lake County’s growing wine business.
His family owns Thorn Hill Vineyards in Lower Lake, where he had overseen the Red Hills tasting room, which opened in 2012, and the family’s wine ranch.
Thorn also was involved in a variety of community projects, most notably the Westside Community Park in Lakeport.
“Jonathan was passionate about beach handball and advocated for a Beach Oasis to be included in the several opportunities for recreation being developed by volunteers at Westside Community Park in Lakeport,” said Wilda Shock, chair of the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee and a longtime supporter of the park.
“He brought players from the Bay Area to demonstrate beach handball during the annual Grillin’ on the Green fundraising event in 2016 and 2017, raising awareness of the sport,” Shock said.
Thorn also had led a local beach handball team that was heading up the fundraising for the beach handball court, as Lake County News previously reported in a story about the park.
“Jonathan supported numerous community arts events, most recently donating wine from his family’s winery to the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College to raise scholarship funds for theatre students through the Shakespeare at the Lake production held in Lakeport,” Shock said.
Dennis Rollins, chair of the Westside Community Park Committee, said Thorn was a member of the committee for four years.
Rollins added that Thorn was a young man who felt it was important to “be active in his community and assist to make it a better place.”
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Lower Lake man killed in crash remembered for community contributions
- Elizabeth Larson
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