How to resolve AdBlock issue? KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A Kelseyville woman suffered major injuries in a Saturday afternoon crash when she went off the road and hit a tree while reaching to pick up a cell phone.
Jeanne Marie Rixen, 70, was flown to a regional trauma center after she crashed her 2006 Lincoln, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the crash occurred at 2:10 p.m. Saturday on Kelsey Creek Drive north of Rose Way.
Rixen, who was alone in the car, was driving eastbound at an unknown rate of speed when she took her eyes of the road to retrieve a ringing cell phone, the CHP said.
She drifted off the road and into a walnut orchard, where she crashed head-on into a walnut tree, the CHP said.
Due to the extensive damage to the car as a result of the crash, Kelseyville Fire personnel had to use the jaws of life to extricate Rixen, according to CHP and reports from the scene.
Kelseyville Fire personnel transported Rixen to the Kelseyville High School football field, where a REACH air ambulance picked her up for transport. Radio reports indicated she had a severe injury to her lower leg, possibly a compound fracture.
The CHP said Rixen was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment of her injuries.
Alcohol and drugs were not believed to be factors in the crash, and Rixen was wearing her lap and shoulder belts, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
