LAKEPORT >> A Richmond man with ties to Clearlake died Monday after his pickup truck veered off Highway 29 and tumbled down a steep embankment.
California Highway Patrol investigators have yet to establish a time for the accident, which occurred just north of the Lakeport Blvd. exit. According to CHP officer Greg Buchholz the truck was not visible from the highway. Workers at a nearby business noticed the damaged vehicle shortly before noon on Monday and notified law enforcement.
The driver, 35-year-old Michael Valente Kallay, had died at the scene from severe injuries. CHP investigators report that he was not wearing a safety belt at the time of the accident.
Officers determined that the man was northbound on Highway 29 driving in wet conditions when his 2001 Ford Ranger edged off the right side of the road. The vehicle continued to veer right, crossing the paved shoulder and tipping down the embankment.
Authorities have yet to determine the driver’s speed at the time.
According to Buchholz the pickup careened down the sharp hill, rolling over “multiple times.” In a press report issued Monday evening CHP listed conditions as wet and overcast, but did not indicate a cause for the accident.
Kallay was originally listed as a Lakeport resident on CHP reports. On Tuesday the Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified him as living in Richmond.
The investigation is ongoing. Buchholz asked that anyone with information on the incident contact the Clear Lake Area CHP office at 279-0103.
Another fatal accident occurred at an unknown time along Highway 101 near Hopland either Sunday or Monday. A man was killed when his car drove off the pavement just north of the Green Bridge.
Assistant Hopland Fire Chief Mitch Franklin said his department responded to the scene of the crash around 10:30 a.m. Oct. 31 when a woman called to report finding the vehicle near LaFranchi Road.
“Her friend was long overdue, so she went looking for him, stopping at every set of skid marks she saw until she found the car,” said Franklin, explaining that HFD personnel determined the man was deceased soon after they arrived and removed the body from the badly damaged Subaru for the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, which had not released the man’s name as of Monday afternoon.
CHP also responded to investigate the scene, but could release few details Monday afternoon, only confirming that there was a fatal collision near LaFranchi Road sometime Sunday or early Monday.
Justine Frederiksen of the Ukiah Daily Journal contributed to this report
