How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A solo vehicle crash on Highway 20 Friday morning led to the death of a passenger.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified Gabriel Guarchaj-Ajtzalam, 30, of Modesto as the man who died as a result of the wreck.
The crash was first reported at about 9 a.m. Friday on Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks.
Radio reports from the scene indicated a vehicle had gone down the embankment, one person had been ejected and had major injuries, with four others with less severe injuries.
Sgt. Joel Skeen of the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said the vehicle involved, a white 2003 Chevy Express van, was traveling westbound on State Route 20, east of New Long Valley Road near mile post marker 41.3 when the crash occurred.
“Due to reasons still under investigation, the driver of the van lost control in a downhill curve and went over a steep embankment on the north side of the roadway,” Skeen said.
Skeen said the van overturned multiple times as it travelled down the embankment, ejecting the right front passenger — Guarchaj-Ajtzalam — who later succumbed to his injuries.
Radio reports stated that a REACH helicopter was dispatched to the scene to transport Guarchaj-Ajtzalam to a trauma center in Vacaville. He died a short time later, with a coroner called at around 11 a.m., based on the CHP’s online logs.
“The driver and front middle passenger were uninjured,” Skeen said. “There were two occupants in the rear of the van unrestrained and suffered moderate injuries.”
He said neither drugs nor alcohol were suspected to be factors in the crash.
One-way traffic near the wreck site was in place until shortly before 11 a.m. while the investigation and vehicle removal took place, the CHP reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
