Yuba City men, ages 32 and 19, die in head-on collision on Highway 99

A big-rig bobtail veered into the oncoming lanes of Highway 99, about 17 miles south of Yuba City, and struck a Ford F-150, killing two of that vehicle’s four occupants Monday morning, according to a report issued by the California Highway Patrol.

Capt. Dan Butler of the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office said the two people who died in the accident were Yuba City residents Shane Scott Stugis, 32, and Levi Allen Miller, 19.

The CHP continues to investigate the fatal accident, saying in the report that Victoriano Sepulveda, 49, was driving a 2019 Freightliner bobtail north on Highway 99 approaching Sacramento Avenue just after 6 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, he drifted into the No. 1 lane on the southbound highway.

The CHP report said Stugis was unable to avoid colliding with Sepulveda, with the two vehicles striking on their drivers’ sides. Miller was in the seat behind Stugis. Two occupants on the passenger side of the 2016 F-150 — Tony Sichley Jr., 35, and Steven Wayne Dillon, 32 — reported no immediate injuries and were not transported to a hospital.

The bobtail came to rest in the No. 2 southbound lane of Highway 99, but another southbound driver was unable to avoid the out-of-control Freightliner. Yuba City resident Jose Martin Pintoralvarado, 35, was driving a 1996 Toyota pickup that struck the rear of the big-rig bobtail. Pintoralvarado complained of pain but did not request transport to a hospital.

The CHP investigators said they do not suspect that alcohol or drugs were involved in the accident. All parties wore seatbelts.

This story was originally published October 8, 2018 at 3:34 PM.