Lake County deputy crashes patrol car on Hwy. 20

A Lake County sheriff’s deputy driving on rain-slickened Highway 20 on Thursday lost control of his vehicle, which then struck another car head-on, causing major injuries to that driver, according to the CHP.

Deputy Richard Kreutzer was driving his Ford Crown Victoria patrol vehicle at about 30 mph when he began to pass a big rig that had moved toward one side of the road to allow other vehicles to pass, the CHP said. As he steered his vehicle to its former position in the lane, Kreutzer lost control of the car, which swerved back and forth before careening into the oncoming lane and colliding with a Honda Accord driven by Marc Loberg of Sacramento, the CHP said.

Loberg suffered a broken arm and complained of pain to his hip, chest and ankle, the CHP said.

Kruetzer suffered a facial cut, officials said.

The accident brought traffic on the highway to a halt for just under an hour.

The crash was among nine - mostly rain-related - that the CHP responded to on Thursday, CHP spokesman Kory Reynolds said.