CLEARLAKE OAKS – An 11-year-old boy was injured Wednesday afternoon after the van he was riding in collided with a parked Mediacom truck.
The crash occurred by the Caltrans yard near Schindler Street on Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks. It was reported at 5:20 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
Jason Compton, 36, of Lucerne – accompanied by his 11-year-old son, Joshua – was driving a newer-model white Ford van for Half Price Plumbing.com westbound on Highway 20 when he fell asleep, said CHP Officer Mark Barnes.
Alongside of the road's eastbound lane was parked a Ford F-450 Mediacom pickup, said Barnes. Mediacom employee Craig Billings, 47, of Clearlake, had just come down from working on a nearby utility pole and had walked around the rear passenger side of the vehicle when Compton's van struck the left rear of the pickup.
The truck moved away from Billings, who was hit in the elbow by the moving truck but suffered no other injuries, said Barnes.
The collision, however, trapped the little boy in the front passenger side of the van, said Barnes. The eastbound traffic lane was blocked as Northshore Fire Protection Department personnel extricated him.
In the nearby Caltrans yard, a REACH helicopter was staged. Northshore Fire paramedics moved the child – who suffered facial lacerations but appeared to have had no other serious injuries – via a gurney to the helicopter, which Barnes said transported him to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
The boy's distraught father, joined by his wife at the scene, was limping following the crash, and also had suffered a deep gash to the back of his scalp.
An American Towing truck removed the van from the scene.
Barnes said there appeared to be no other factors involved in the crash, with Compton's speed not being an issue.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
