5 killed in Lakeville Highway crash

<p>A Sonoma family of four killed in a Saturday night crash at Lakeville Highway and Highway 37 were headed home from celebrating Thanksgiving in Maui.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>Johnathan Maloney, 45; his wife, Susan Maloney, 42; and their children, Grace, 5, and Aiden, 8, all died when a speeding Mini Cooper car smashed into their minivan just a few miles from their home, the CHP said.</p><p>The driver of that car, Steven Culbertson, 19, of Lakeport, was seriously injured and died Sunday morning when he was taken off of life support at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the CHP said.</p><p>The CHP said Culbertson started a series of crashes at 9:20 p.m. Saturday that ultimately involved four cars and 10 people, half of whom suffered minor or no injuries.</p><p>On Sunday afternoon, residents of a quiet, upscale street in southern Sonoma were reeling from shock at the loss of their neighbors, the Maloneys, who lived on Fryer Creek Road.</p><p>"It's a whole family . . . ," said Terry Rowland, trying to hold back tears. "They were the best."</p><p>"They'd had a great Thanksgiving in Maui and gone to Disneyland a couple weeks ago," said Rowland, sitting on her front step across from the Maloney home, shaking her head in disbelief.</p><p>"Everything they did was about family," said Rose Barnes, eyes red from crying.</p><p>"So tragic, so tragic," said a distraught Adele Ney. "They were a darling family."</p><p>Word of the Maloneys deaths reached the neighborhood early Sunday when Rowland, a close friend, was called by Susan Maloney's brother. Rowland passed the news on to others in the close-knit neighborhood and found a pet sitter for the Maloneys' terrier, Phoebe.</p><p>Someone left a bouquet of flowers on the front doorstep of the family's two-story home. On the envelope the person had written simply, "With love."</p><p>The Maloneys had been looking forward to their trip to Hawaii and had taken Susan Maloney's mother with them. They returned Saturday so that Sunday they could have a belated Thanksgiving dinner with Johnathan Maloney's daughter, Molly, 19, who was home with her mother in Marin County from college in Wisconsin, said longtime close friend Bob Smith of Sonoma.</p><p>The complexity of the crash kept CHP investigators at the scene all night, and the stretches of Highway 37 and Lakeville Highway were closed from about 10:30 p.m. Saturday until 7:30 a.m. Sunday, CHP Sgt. Kevin Mensior said.</p><p>"We were diagramming the entire thing," he said.</p><p>Culbertson was headed south on Lakeville Highway at what witnesses estimated to be 70 to 90 mph when he hit a southbound 2004 Honda CRV driven by Thomas Graham, 61, of Petaluma, the CHP said.</p><p>Culbertson continued south through the red light at Highway 37 and broadsided the family's minivan, which was traveling eastbound on Highway 37 through the intersection.</p><p>The minivan was pushed into an eastbound 2002 Mitsubishi Galant driven by Carrie Rodriguez, 52, of Novato.</p><p>Graham and passenger James Parker of Stockton escaped injury. Rodriguez and passengers Liberty Rosario, 47, of Fairfield and Adelaida Nicholas, 53, of Novato were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, treated for minor injuries and released, the CHP said.</p><p>Culbertson was taken by REACH medical helicopter to Memorial Hospital.</p><p>While speed was considered a factor in the crash, alcohol hadn't been ruled out, the CHP said. A blood sample was taken from Culbertson and will be analyzed.</p><p>Firefighters from Lakeville, Wilmar, Novato and Petaluma were called to the crash.</p><p>Johnathan and Susan Maloney were married for about 10 years. They'd met while both worked at a San Rafael manufacuring company.</p><p>She was the human resources director and he was a salesman, said Smith, who worked with them at the business. Smith, an attorney, married the couple.</p><p>The couple moved to the neighborhood near Sonoma Valley High School about 10 years ago and soon started their family.</p><p>Neighbors said there weren't many children in the neighborhood and they'd enjoyed watching the Maloney children grow and play in the front yard.</p><p>"The two little ones, they were cute, cute adorable children. The little girl was so cute; she loved nice clothes and animals," Ney said.</p><p>Grace Maloney attended a preschool within walking distance from home and her brother, Aiden, attended Prestwood Elementary School.</p><p>Smith said he and Johnathan Maloney eventually bought the San Rafael company where they worked and a few years ago sold it.</p><p>That allowed Maloney to fulfill a dream to take a two-year break from work to spend more time with his family and write a book.</p><p>"He did both those things," Smith said.</p><p>Johnathan Maloney, who'd also recently achieved his master's degree in creative writing, wrote a fantasy story for young adults, Smith said.</p><p>"He based it on the stories he told his kids every night," Smith said.</p><p>"He was extremely artistic, a very talented guy, very bright, in some areas downright brilliant," said the grief-stricken Smith.</p><p>Neighbors spoke of the father's artistic talents, including painting scenes from the popular Harry Potter series on his children's bedroom walls.</p><p>With his book completed, Maloney went back to work in the spring, with Solarcraft in Novato.</p><p>Susan Maloney recently took a break from work at Panamax Inc. in Petaluma and was working on teaching pilates.</p><p>In addition to his daughter, Molly, Johnathon Maloney is survived by family in Rochester, N.Y., Smith said. Susan Maloney is survived by a brother and mother in the Sacramento area.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.</p>