Fort Bragg man dies in Highway 20 creek crash

A Fort Bragg man died Sunday in a crash on Highway 20 in Mendocino County after he rolled his Jeep down an embankment into a creek, the CHP said Monday.

At about 4 p.m. 57-year-old Thomas Croak and passenger Brian D. Wagoner, 46, of Fort Bragg, had been driving west on the rural highway.

They were about midway between Willits and Fort Bragg, near Chamberlain Creek, when the 1988 Jeep went wide into a sweeping left turn, according to the CHP.

The driver apparently over-corrected and the Jeep cut across both lanes.

It ran off of the highway and rolled into a canyon, stopping on its left side in the creek.

Croak, who wasn't wearing a seat belt according to a CHP report, was killed in the crash.

Wagoner had minor injuries and was taken to Mendocino Coast District Hospital.

The crash closed the eastbound lane of the rural highway until about 6 p.m.

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