THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THE ARREST AND INVESTIGATION.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The local woman who died in a fatal crash early Sunday morning has been identified.
Jennifer Clark, 31, of Clearlake was the victim in the crash, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Clark was the passenger in a 1984 Chevrolet El Camino driven by 27-year-old Danny Fields II of Clearlake when the crash occurred sometime between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Fields was driving southbound on Highway 29 north of Highway 53 near Lower Lake when his car went off the road, traveled down an embankment and hit a walnut tree, the CHP reported.
Fields then reportedly left the scene, was picked up by an unidentified driver and dropped off at the Tower Mart in Lower Lake. The CHP said Fields’ parents were contacted, and they picked him up from the Tower Mart and transported him to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake.
It was the hospital that contacted the CHP shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday to notify the agency that a traffic collision involving Fields had taken place.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which assisted in the investigation, discovered Fields’ vehicle less than 20 minutes after the hospital reported the crash. Clark was found inside the vehicle and pronounced dead, the CHP said.
A blood sample was taken from Fields, as CHP investigators suspect that the crash may have been the result of driving under the influence. That blood sample has been sent to the California Department of Justice lab for analysis, according to CHP Sgt. Rick Okazaki.
Fields, who sustained major injuries in the crash, was placed under arrest for felony driving under the influence and felony hit and run causing death or injury, Okazaki said.
However, Fields was released after his arrest due to the extent of his injuries. That doesn’t preclude the CHP from refiling charges if the investigation concludes Fields was at fault, Okazaki said.
Fields is still hospitalized, Okazaki said.
Officer Joe Wind said Monday that the investigation is continuing, with officers speaking to witnesses in an effort to fully understand what took place.
“They’re busy working on different leads,” he said.
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