YOUR AD HERE »

2 die in separate car accidents on Summit

Trina Kleist and Robyn Moormeister
Sun News Service

A 12-year-old boy and 18-year-old woman were killed in separate car accidents west of Donner Summit over the weekend.

A Grass Valley boy died Sunday evening after being injured in a solo wreck on Highway 20 near Bowman Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. The boy’s name was not released because he was a minor. He was 12.

On Friday night, an 18-year-old woman was killed on Interstate 80 one-half mile east of Yuba Gap when the SUV in which she was a passenger struck a semi and went over a guardrail, the CHP said.’



The boy was riding in a 2000 Mercury Cougar eastbound on Highway 20 when the driver, 18-year-old Jacob Riley of Reno, entered a curve. Riley lost control, went off the road and hit a tree at about 5:40 p.m., CHP Officer Dave Brown of the Gold Run office in Dutch Flat said.

The Mercury crashed on its right side. The boy suffered injuries to the head, chest and right leg, Brown said. He was flown by Calstar medical helicopter to University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he died, Brown said.



Riley suffered cuts to his left hand and complained of pain all over his body. He was taken by Truckee Fire Department ambulance to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee. Riley was not registered at the hospital and his condition could not be determined, a spokeswoman said.

It was not known if the two were wearing seat belts. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and will take about a month to review, Brown said.

Meanwhile, Moe Christie Nakamura, 18, of San Francisco was declared dead at the scene Friday night after the vehicle she was in apparently clipped a big rig trailer. The driver of the semi truck did not stop, apparently unaware that his trailer had been struck.

According to the CHP, Nakamura was the front seat passenger of a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Charissa Wong, 18, of San Francisco at 11:10 p.m. Friday.

Wong was reportedly driving at an excessive speed on eastbound fast lane of Highway 80 when she lost control prior to a sweeping left-hand curve at the Highway 20 interchange.

The Cherokee began swerving side to side, then sideswiped a semitrailer in the slow lane. The Jeep swerved left into the center-divider guardrail. The Jeep’s speed and the force of the collision caused it to go airborne and vault the guardrail. The Jeep then went down a steep and rocky center divide and hit a large boulder.

The Jeep continued tumbling and came to rest on its roof in a dirt median next to the westbound traffic lanes.

According to the CHP’s report, Nakamura sustained fatal injuries despite wearing her seatbelt.

Wong and two other passengers, Elizabeth Kress, 20 and Diedre Chew, 18, all of San Francisco, suffered moderate injuries in the crash.

A Nevada County Sheriff’s deputy notified Nakamura’s father Saturday of his daughter’s death.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or that can possible identify the semi truck is asked to call the Gold Run CHP at (530) 389-2205.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.