BLUE LAKES — A Willits man died on Sunday after a collision on Highway 20 near Blue Lakes Lodge, the California Highway Patrol said.
After 4 p.m. on Sunday, a 44 year-old Willits man—who by press time Wednesday had not been identified pending notification of his family—was driving eastbound on the highway, just west of Irvine Avenue, at about 50 mph. For “reasons yet to be determined,” the CHP said, his 1991 Toyota Tacoma crossed over the solid double yellow lines into the westbound lane of traffic, side-swiping a 2000 GMC Sierra driven by Gabriel Gutierrez, 57, of Kelseyville, and causing it to spin out to the north of the highway.
The Tacoma continued into the oncoming lane and its front passenger side collided with the front of a 2014 Dodge Ram 2500 driven by Phillip Nasca, 51, of Eureka. The Tacoma came to rest on its wheels on the north shoulder of the highway, and the Ram came to rest on its wheels on the north embankment of the highway.
Gutierrez and his passenger, Blanca Damaz, 52, also of Kelseyville, were uninjured. Nasca and his passenger, Mia Nasca, 24, also of Eureka, were also uninjured.
The Willits man, who was reported by the CHP not to have been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, sustained “major injuries,” from which he succumbed after being transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Authorities noted that alcohol is suspected to be a factor in the collision, which is still under investigation.
