Two killed in Lake County crash

Two people died and a third person was hospitalized with significant injuries after an SUV collided with three trees in Clearlake Oaks over the weekend.

Richard Joseph Adams, 69, who was driving the 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer, was pronounced dead at the scene, Lake County authorities said Tuesday. A 59-year-old Clearlake Oaks woman riding in the passenger seat died from her injuries after she was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, CHP said in a prepared statement. The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday had not yet released her name.

Adams was driving west on Highway 20 when he drifted off the road about 5 p.m. Saturday into the right shoulder and hit three trees, CHP said. His SUV came to a stop in a shoulder lane at the Morine Ranch Road intersection with the rear left wheel slightly off the ground.

Justin Hendrix, 33, of Woodland, who was in the back seat, suffered major injuries and was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial in a medical helicopter. Hendrix was not wearing a seat belt, either, CHP said.

A spokesperson for St. Joseph Health, the operator of the hospital, said Hendrix was in stable condition Tuesday.

Adams and Hendrix were extricated from the SUV by the Northshore Fire Protection District. Police investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

CHP officials in the Clear Lake office in Kelseyville were unavailable Tuesday to comment on the accident beyond what was contained in the prepared statement.