CHP investigating head-on fatal crash outside Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County
A 29-year-old Yuba City man died Tuesday morning after a fiery crash involving two vehicles that collided just outside Beale Air Force Base, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The crash was initially reported shortly after 7 a.m. near Hammonton-Smartsville Road, just east of Doolittle Drive, according to a news release from the CHP Yuba-Sutter Office.
The CHP said the Yuba City man was driving a silver 2008 Infinity M35 at a high rate of speed and passing vehicles as the car headed east on Hammonton-Smartville.
Two witnesses in other vehicles told the CHP that they were passed by the speeding Infinity before the crash. The witnesses said they were driving 65 to 70 mph when the Infinity sedan passed them.
The Infinity’s driver lost control of the car while in a curve, and the car spun out, according to the CHP. The Infinity entered the westbound lane. The CHP said the car’s rear end collided with a Clark Pest Control Ford F-150 heading west about 55 mph.
The Infinity caught fire after the crash. The Infinity’s driver was trapped in the driver’s seat and died from his injuries, the CHP reported.
Darrell Drivon, 53, of Grass Valley was driving the white pest control truck. The CHP said Drivon complained of pain after the crash but declined to be taken to a hospital.
Hammonton-Smartville was closed for nearly three hours Tuesday as CHP officers gathered evidence at the scene and authorities removed the crashed vehicles from the road.
The crash occurred just east of the Doolittle Gate to Beale Air Force Base, and the CHP asked for the gate to be closed temporarily. Authorities will release the Yuba City man’s name once his family has been properly notified.
