LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A young Lucerne man died in a single-vehicle wreck on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff on Monday afternoon.
Ruben James Foreman, 20, was the victim in the crash, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office reported that Foreman was riding as a passenger in a gold-colored 1994 Acura Integra driven by 18-year-old Anthony R. Lopez of Lucerne. Also in the car as a passenger was a 16-year-old male Lucerne resident, whose name was not released due to his juvenile status.
The CHP said that at approximately 4:28 p.m., Lopez was driving northbound on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff, just south of the Rodman Slough bridge. Conditions at the time were cloudy and rainy.
As Lopez negotiated a left curve in the roadway, he lost control of his vehicle and traveled off the roadway in an easterly direction, crashing into a wood fence, the CHP said.
The CHP said Foreman was seated in the right front seat of the Acura, while the juvenile was in the right rear seat.
Foreman sustained major injuries, according to the CHP report. Reports from the scene on Monday said he suffered major facial trauma and was unresponsive when firefighters arrived at the scene.
Due to weather conditions, no air ambulances could fly Foreman to an out-of-county trauma center, according to radio reports.
The CHP said Foreman was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
The juvenile passenger sustained minor injuries and Lopez was uninjured, the CHP said.
The crash closed the cutoff for a short time, reopening early Monday evening, according to radio reports.
The cause of the wreck is still under investigation. The CHP said all occupants were wearing their seatbelts, and neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected factors in the crash.
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Lucerne man dies in Nice-Lucerne Cutoff crash
- Elizabeth Larson
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