LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A crash early Thursday morning killed one person, seriously injured a sheriff’s deputy and has resulted in an extended shutdown of a stretch of Highway 29.

The crash, reported shortly before 7 a.m., took place at Highway 29 and Diener Drive, and was reported to have occurred during a vehicle pursuit.

Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta confirmed that one person died and a deputy sheriff was injured as a result of the wreck.

Sheriff’s deputies were responding to the report of a home invasion robbery in the area of Rocky Creek Road and Morgan Valley Road near Lower Lake when a suspect vehicle was spotted and the pursuit began, leading to the crash, according to radio reports.

The deputy and another vehicle that wasn’t involved in the pursuit were reported to have crashed while the suspect vehicle fled the scene, based on reports from the scene.

REACH transported the deputy to an out-of-county trauma center while extrication on the other vehicle was continuing, radio reports indicated.

A short time later, Clearlake Police and sheriff’s deputies took at least one male home invasion suspect into custody in the areas of 19th and Oak and Pine in Clearlake, where the suspects reportedly crashed their vehicle and fled on foot. Medical assistance was called for the suspect, who suffered bites from a police K9, based on witness accounts and radio traffic.

Another male suspect – reported to be wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, and considered armed and dangerous – was still being sought, according to scanner traffic.

Because of the crash at Diener Drive, a portion of Highway 29 remains closed, with the scene still being processed, said Sapeta.

Sapeta said shortly before 8:30 a.m. that he anticipated the highway being closed for another three to four hours.

He said traffic was being redirected around the crash scene, onto Soda Bay and Point Lakeview roads.

In addition to Lake County Fire, Kelseyville Fire and Cal Fire also were on scene, Sapeta said.

Additional details will be posted as they become available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.