Hit and run crash causes rollover, injuries

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

Very late Saturday afternoon, Oct. 1, a collision on Highway 99 at County Road 24 caused one of the two vehicles involved to roll over, injuring and trapping its occupants inside.

Meanwhile, the other vehicle and its driver took off, although pieces of the vehicle were apparently left behind. It looked like quite a few witnesses remained at the scene as well.

Emergency responders began to be dispatched at about 5:52 p.m. No official news report has yet been released, but observations at the scene strongly suggest that the vehicle that rolled over, a minivan, was traveling south on Highway 99 when it was struck by another vehicle at County Road 24.

The minivan continued south perhaps a hundred yards or so, rolling over and coming to rest on its driver side. Its two occupants, a man and a woman, were stuck inside and had to be extricated by Orland firefighters using the “Jaws of Life.”

The Enloe FlightCare medical helicopter was quickly dispatched. It landed in the middle of Highway 99, south of the accident scene, but it did not appear that either of the accident victims was transported in it and they were instead taken to the hospital in a ground ambulance.

More than one sighting of a vehicle thought by the callers to be the one that fled the scene were reported during the evening. However, at least one of these sightings may have been of a vehicle involved in another hit and run (vehicle versus pedestrian) that happened about 8 p.m. in front of Circle K on Wood Street in Willows.

The vehicle from the Circle K accident has been described as a grey four-door car, possibly with a broken headlight lens. As of right now, The Observer has received no description of the vehicle that fled the crash at Highway 99 and Road 24.

Watch here for an update on Monday or Tuesday.