Thursday night crash injures four; one driver arrested for DUI
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lakeport man was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs on Thursday night following a two-vehicle wreck that injured him and three others.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office reported that 30-year-old Jeremy David Morgan was arrested after the crash.
The CHP said the crash occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20 east of Cora Drive, just east of Lucerne.
The CHP said Morgan was driving his 2001 Jeep Cherokee westbound on Highway 20 at a stated speed of between 40 and 50 miles per hour.
Riding with Morgan was 29-year-old Sabrina Contino of Lakeport, who was seated in the right front passenger seat, and 49-year-old Teddy Teel of Nice, who was riding in the rear of the vehicle, the CHP said.
At the same time, Kat Salido, 40, of Cotati was driving her 2004 Hyundai Sonata eastbound on Highway 20 at a stated speed of between 40 and 45 miles per hour, with her 3-year-old son, Kaysen, seated in the right rear seat, according to the CHP report.
The CHP said Morgan lost control of his Jeep as he attempted to negotiate a curve in the roadway. His Jeep began to rotate sideways as it left the westbound lane and entered into the eastbound lane.
It was at that point that Salido rounded the same curve and collided with the right rear of Morgan’s Jeep, which subsequently flipped onto its roof and slid across the roadway before coming to rest facing a northwesterly direction, blocking the eastbound lane of Highway 20, the CHP said.
Salido’s Hyundai came to rest facing an easterly direction, also blocking the highway’s eastbound lane, according to the report.
The CHP said Morgan, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered minor injuries. Contino, who was wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash, and Teel, who was not wearing his seat belt, both suffered major head and neck injuries and were later transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Due to weather conditions on Thursday night, air ambulances had not initially been available to respond to the scene to transport the patients, according to radio reports.
Both Salido and her son were wearing their seat belts, with Salido having a complaint of pain to her chest. The child was uninjured. The CHP said both she and her child were released at the scene by medical personnel.
Following the collision, the CHP said Morgan was determined to have been under the influence of a controlled substance at the time of the wreck and subsequently was placed under arrest.
Morgan was booked into the Lake County Jail early Friday morning, with his bail set at $500,000. He is tentatively scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Monday.
The CHP said the crash remains under investigation.
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