Lakeport woman killed in suspected DUI crash, driver arrested

A holiday weekend car crash in Lake County took the life of a 19-year-old Lakeport woman and seriously injured her new boyfriend, who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, the CHP said Tuesday.

Francesca Rose Schetter, who was raised in Lakeport, died soon after Friday’s late-night crash. She was a 2013 graduate of Lakeport Alternative school, a 2012 Miss Lake County contestant and had worked for several years at the McDonald’s restaurant in town.

Driver Nicholas Ivicevich III, 21, also of Lakeport, was arrested at the crash scene. Due to his major injuries, including broken ribs and a lacerated liver, he was flown by medical helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The two, who had worked together at McDonald’s, recently had started dating, said David Liu, a manager at the fast-food restaurant.

“She’s going to be missed. It was a shock,” Liu said Tuesday. “Everyone is so sad about it.”

The crash occurred at about 10 p.m. Friday while Ivicevich drove south on Park Way, a major route in Lakeport. He lost control of his 1997 Honda Civic on a curve near Lakeshore Boulevard and the car ran off the road into a utility pole, the CHP said.

The impact collapsed the vehicle and firefighters had to cut Schetter free of the wreckage. She was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

At Lakeport Alternative, a home school with about three dozen students, a spokesman said Tuesday teachers were too distraught to talk about the former student.

Liu said co-workers and friends on Sunday learned of her death.

“It was very traumatic,” he said. “She was such a good girl, always smiling. A good worker, good friend, good person.”

Ivicevich began working at McDonald’s in the past several months and earlier this month had notified the restaurant he was quitting. His last day working was a few days before the crash, Liu said.

Liu called Ivicevich “a very nice person, a pretty good worker.”

Lake County CHP Officer Kory Reynolds said he knew Schetter years ago when she played soccer in Lakeport with his daughter. More recently, Reynolds and his wife looked forward to chatting with the young woman when they would drive through McDonald’s for a soda, he said.

“She was a sweet girl, always had a smile and pleasant conversation,” Reynolds said.

In 2012 she was a contestant in the Miss Lake County pageant, according to the Lake County News.

The investigation into the crash was continuing Tuesday. Both had been wearing seat belts.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rossmannreport.com.