CHP Helps with Deadly Collison
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has been working on identifying an officer who was involved in a crash that killed a fifteen year old boy. The crash happened on Interstate 5 earlier in the week.
According to the CHP, forty-nine year old, Officer Jim Gamble was driving a patrol vehicle just before 3:30 p.m. he was traveling north on I-5 and was coming up on a construction zone. This was on the south side of the Country Road 20 over-crossing in Orland.
According to the CHP, traffic had slowed down due to a construction zone. Apparently the officer was for whatever reason distracted and was unable to stop in time so that he could avoid the vehicles in front of him.
CHP Sgt. Tony Odell’s Statement:
(The officer’s) attention was diverted away from the road, looking down at, I believe, his computer. When he looked up, traffic was slowing and coming to a stop. (He) applied his brakes and rear-ended the vehicle that was in front of him, which subsequently got pushed into two other vehicles that were stopped.
Officer Gamble hit a 2013 Hyundai. The Hyundai was being drove by a seventeen year old girl from Willows. Her passenger who was sitting in the backseat was fifteen year old, Weston Sites. Sister to the driver, was sitting in the passenger seat, is only fourteen years old.
Sites was sadly pronounced dead at the scene of the incident. According to the reports, she was a student at Willows High School.
Both sisters luckily only suffered minor injuries but had to be taken to the hospital to be checked out. They were later released.
There were two other vehicles involved in the crash.
CHP Statement:
The CHP extends our deepest condolences to the family of the teenager who was killed in this collision, and our wishes for a smooth recovery for those injured.
Game is a twenty year veteran of the department and he only suffered minor injuries as well.
Even though the CHP already made their statement about the crashes, they are still investigation the scenes.
Assistant Chief Todd Garr’s Statement:
IThat may have been a component in this investigation, but there may have been others. We don’t want to be premature in saying this was the cause of the accident.
However if they investigation finds the officer to be at fault then whatever evidence that they find will be sent to the Glenn County District Attorney’s office for possible charges.
The crashes reportedly closed the I-5 for around 6 hours.
CHP Investigates Crashes
The Caltrans report said that the Highway 1 between U.S. Highway 101 and Highway 246 are expected to be reopened by eight o’clock p.m. on Wednesday.
The CHP have been investigation a crash and was able identify the people involved: fifty-six year old Juan M. Rivera, sixty-one year old Fred L. Williams, and thirty-three year old Anthony L. Williams.
According to the CHP report, the driver of a white box truck (Rivera) was traveling northbound on Highway 1. Then for unknown reasons his truck started to wander across the solid double lines. The man drove into the southbound lanes and directly into the path of two semitralers which was pulling dump trailers.
CHP Report:
The box truck side swiped the first semi on the left side then continued in the SB lane, directly into the path of the second semi. The driver of the box truck then collided head on with the second semi and both vehicles came to rest on the SB dirt shoulder of [state Route] 1.
The drivers injuries are unknown at this time, however the investigators don’t believe that alcohol or drugs played a role in this crash.
Daniel A. Gibalevich
DAG Law Firm
