San Andreas CHP Reports Two Injury Accidents, One Fatality Over Holiday Weekend
San Andreas, CA – The three-day weekend brought tragedy to a group of campers recreating in the Wilseyville area when one died through a motorcycle mishap.
According to CHP San Andreas Unit spokesperson Officer Rebecca Myers, the deceased, 42-year-old Christopher Tilton of Manteca, was this past Saturday just before midnight heading south on Mitchell Mill Road south of Blue Mountain Road on private property. Driving a 1999 Kawasaki KX250 at an unknown speed, he lost control while in a right-hand curve.
Skidding down and under the guardrail of a small bridge, he and the bike fell eight to ten feet into a creek bed below and he succumbed to his injuries. Myers adds that Tilton was located some hours later by people in his party who had called authorities to report him missing. Alcohol and or drug influence has not yet been ruled out as a contributing factor.
Inattention Triggers Three-Vehicle Pile-up
A chain-reaction three-vehicle collision on Highway 49 sent two people to area hospitals just ahead of the weekend this past Friday late in the noon hour. All three had been traveling north just north of Murray Creek Bridge.
Felycia Inzunzaduffield, 27, of Jackson, in the lead car, had halted her 2015 Chevy Nova while preparing to make a left turn into the MACT Health Clinic. Gloria Coats, 62, of Hayward had halted behind her in a 2016 Toyota RAV4. However, James Rice, 45, of Valley Springs did not see the two vehicles ahead of him and drove his 2000 Ford F450 pickup into the back of the SUV at about 40 miles-per-hour, which propelled it into the sedan.
Inzunzaduffield, the driver of the first vehicle, was transported to Sutter Amador for treatment of minor injuries. The passenger in the second vehicle, 81-year-old Gerald Coats of Hayward, was taken to Mark Twain Medical Center, also suffering from minor injuries. The passenger in the pickup, 52-year-old Bryan Mitchell of Valley Springs, was not injured in the crash, according to the CHP, which adds that alcohol and/or drugs are not considered a factor.
Over the Memorial Day holiday the CHP San Andreas handled a total of nine accidents and made four arrests; three for DUI and one for evading arrest. Of 28 citations handed out most were for speeding. Officials are expressing distress that so far this year of eight fatality collisions, five have been just this month, which are causing them to ramp up aggressive enforcement and education efforts to keep the roads safe.
