LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Hidden Valley Lake man died Saturday morning in a crash on Highway 29 south of Middletown.
William James Wight, 51, was identified as the man who died in the wreck, said Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said in a Wednesday report that the crash happened at 8:37 a.m. Saturday on Highway 29 south of Mirabel Road.
Frederick Gibson II, 34, of Roseville was traveling north on Highway 29 in a 2016 International truck, the CHP said. Reports from firefighters at the scene said the vehicle was a large box truck carrying mail.
At the same time, Wight was driving a 2020 Ford pickup truck southbound, the CHP said.
The CHP said that for an undetermined reason, Gibson allowed his truck to travel off the east road edge.
When Gibson reentered the road, the truck traveled out of control across both lanes of traffic, broadsiding Wight’s pickup on the west shoulder, the CHP report said.
The report said Wight had attempted to avoid the crash by moving his pickup onto the west shoulder.
The CHP said Wight died of his injuries at the scene.
Gibson suffered minor injuries in the crash, according to the report.
Alcohol and drugs were not factors in the crash, the CHP said.
The crash was the first of two fatal wrecks reported in Lake County on Saturday. Later in the day, a Ukiah woman would die in a head-on wreck on Highway 20 at Blue Lakes.
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Hidden Valley Lake man dies in Saturday Highway 29 crash
- Elizabeth Larson
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