Lakeport >> It took emergency fire personnel about an hour to extricate a man pinned under a truck early Wednesday morning. Authorities believe the man had been drinking.
Lakeport Police Department (LPD) officers responded to a report at about 1:12 a.m. of a crash near the Lakeport Unified School District, heard by nearby residents. Callers said this was followed by sounds of someone screaming, according to LPD Chief Brad Rasmussen. The two officers first at the scene found a red 1992 Ford F-150 pickup truck upside down on its roof west of the roadway edge of Lakeshore Boulevard north of Lange Street. The victim was trapped under wreckage.
After Lakeport Fire Protection District fire fighters managed to release the driver and solo occupant, they transported him to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and where he was transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital via helicopter, Rasmussen stated. The injuries received by the driver are believed to be serious but not life threatening.
The LPD investigation of the incident is still ongoing; however, the preliminary report identified Damon Thomas Wooldridge, 22, of Lakeport as the driver with evidence showing that alcohol and an unsafe speed are combined factors in the crash, Rasmussen stated. Officers believe that Wooldridge lost control of the pickup while it was traveling north on Lakeshore Boulevard at a high rate of speed. Evidence suggests the pickup hit the west roadway curb, flipped sideways, went airborne and crashed with a large oak tree before coming to rest on its roof.
The Santa Rosa Police Department assisted in this investigation by arranging a legal blood alcohol test to be taken from Wooldridge.
