An assistant basketball coach at Granite Bay High School has died following a weekend traffic accident on Interstate 80 near Davis.
Kenneth Semmler, 52, of Roseville died Monday of a stroke possibly caused by injuries received in the Sunday accident in which nine people in two cars were injured, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Semmler had helped coach the high school's freshmen boys basketball team and also refereed youth basketball games, according to Linda Dickson, a teacher at the school and former coach of the girls basketball team.
"He was a great guy," Dickson said. "He was friendly, positive, kind, approachable. He always had a smile on his face."
The CHP said Semmler was driving a 2004 Ford Expedition at 1 p.m. Sunday east of Highway 113, traveling at an estimated 80 to 85 mph when he came upon slower traffic ahead of him in the No. 2 lane.
Officer Marvin Williford said Semmler swerved into the No. 1 lane, the fast lane, to avoid the slowdown but encountered stopped traffic there, too.
The Expedition slammed into the back of a Dodge Ram pickup truck being driven by David Ellebrecht, 53, of Pleasanton, Williford said.
Semmler's vehicle went across traffic into the third and fourth lanes, coming to rest on its side and catching fire, the officer said.
Firefighters from Davis and Dixon put out the flames and got Semmler out of the vehicle while the westbound lanes were shut down for one hour, the CHP said.
Williford said the occupants from the two vehicles were taken by both air and ground ambulances. Other than Semmler, the injuries of the others were described by the CHP as "minor to moderate."
Their names and conditions were not immediately available today.
