Highway 29 head-on crash sends three to hospital

A head-on collision on Highway 29 Friday morning in Lake County sent three people to regional hospitals, Cal Fire and CHP officials said.

Investigators were still determining who was at fault in the 5:54 a.m. crash on Highway 29 near Butts Canyon Road in Middletown.

Angel Villalobos, 59, of Clearlake was driving a 1997 Saturn south on Highway 29 when he began preparing to make a left turn onto Butts Canyon Road and crashed into a 2007 Ford pickup, which was heading north on the highway, according to a CHP report.

Firefighters extricated one person from a vehicle and treated two others, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Greg Bertelli said.

Two medical helicopters took Villalobos and his passenger Miguel Villalobos, 56, of Clearlake to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with moderate and major injuries, respectively, the CHP said. Another passenger Andres Lozano, 71, of Clearlake was taken to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake with moderate injuries.

The driver of the Ford, Jeffrey Story, 56, of Hidden Valley Lake suffered minor injuries in the collision and told authorities he would seek medical care on his own, the CHP said.

Bertelli noted that the helicopters used a new landing pad in Middletown.

Highway 29 was closed for about an hour.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.