LOWER LAKE >> The California Highway Patrol is looking for help from the public in locating a driver who reportedly fled the scene of a collision early Wednesday near Spruce Grove Road in Lower Lake.
According to an incident report, in the early hours (approximately 1 a.m.) Wednesday, the driver was traveling southbound on Highway 29, north of Spruce Grove Road when he made an unsafe turn resulting in his passenger’s 1988 Toyota Tercel going off the road and traveling down a steep downhill embankment.
Upon reaching the bottom of the embankment, the car continued on an open grass field until the front collided with a barbed wire fence, stopping approximately 150 feet west of the highway. Officer Kyle Zerbel from the CHP in Clearlake noted that following the collision, the driver fled the scene and has yet to be located.
A passenger who was seated in the right front seat of the car, 54-year-old Suann Gates from Middletown, suffered minor injuries during the accident and was taken to the Restoration House in Lower Lake before being taken by ambulance to Adventist Health Hospital.
She complained of back pain sustained as a result of the crash according to law enforcement’s report.
Zerbel said the CHP is hoping someone driving by at the time of the incident may have been a witness.
Any witnesses not contacted by the CHP at the scene or anyone with any information regarding the collision is encouraged to contact the Clear Lake Area CHP office at 707-279-0103.
