Update: CHP IDs two men killed in Feb. 5 crash on Highway 20
editor@theunion.com
The California Highway Patrol has identified two men killed in a solo-vehicle wreck on Highway 20 on Monday afternoon, Feb. 5.
Robert J. Johnson, 46, of Nevada City, was driving a Toyota Corolla westbound on Highway 20 east of Pine Needle Way at about 4:15 p.m., according to the CHP. According to witnesses, he was driving erratically and then made an unsafe turn to the right, running off the road and hitting a sign and several trees.
One occupant of the vehicle reportedly was out of the vehicle, and the other was pinned against the steering wheel.
CHP officers responded to the scene of the crash, along with Nevada County Consolidated firefighters, Nevada County Sheriff’s deputies, the Sierra Nevada Ambulance Service and Caltrans.
Highway 20 initially was blocked in both directions but had one lane open to traffic by 5 p.m.
CHP is handling the investigation and it is not known whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision.
The stretch of Highway 20 between Nevada City and Interstate 80 has claimed six lives in less than a week and a half.
On Jan. 31, a crash involving a Kilroy’s Towing Service truck and a Stockton-based Williams Tank Lines fuel tanker happened around 10 a.m. on Highway 20 near Bowman Lake Road. The collision sent flames 40 to 50 feet into the air and closed the highway for more than a day. Both drivers were killed but only one, John Drew, 49, of Reno, has been formally identified. (See more on Page A3).
On Jan. 27, a solo-vehicle wreck on Highway 20 just east of Willow Valley Road killed Dominic Giuliani, 20, of Nevada City, and Dawson Turiello, 19, of Grass Valley.
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