MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Alcohol is believed to be a factor in a weekend crash in the south county that injured three people.

The crash in question occurred Saturday, April 2, at 6:20 p.m. on the Dry Creek Cutoff near Middletown, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A Monday report from CHP Officer Steve Tanguay explained that the single-vehicle collison involved a 1981 Toyota pickup driven by 23-year-old Middletown resident Justin McCarty.

Tanguay said McCarty was driving the pickup eastbound on the Dry Creek Cutoff toward Highway 29, with 24-year-old Shane Sims of Middletown riding in the front passenger seat and Sina Radley, 21, of Clearlake riding in the truck's bed.

According to the report, McCarty lost control of the truck, which veered to the left and went off of the roadway, colliding with a tree and rolling over onto its left side.

Radley was thrown from the bed of the truck, which came to rest in a ditch, Tanguay said.

Sims was able to get out of the truck while McCarty was trapped in the driver’s seat. Tanguay said neither McCarty nor Sims were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision.

When McCarty was removed from the vehicle, he was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for major injuries sustained in the collision, Tanguay said. Sims and Radley were transported by South County Fire Ambulance to Saint Helena Hospital, Clearlake for treatment of their injuries.

CHP Officer Erica Coddington is the investigating officer, Tanguay said.

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