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One Killed in Single-Car Crash on Cook Road in Ione

A car sits beside a tree it was crashed into on Cook Road on Saturday afternoon after authorities removed from it the body of a deceased young male. The California Highway Patrol said the victim, also the driver, was suspected to have been a 16-year-old Ione boy. The boy’s identity was not yet confirmed through pending coroner’s tests.
Photo by: Bill Lavallie
The CHP reported five separate accidents last week, including a fatal one-car crash that is believed to have taken the life of an Ione 16-year-old.

The second fatal accident and fifth road death of the year on Amador County roads involved a 1994 Chevrolet Camaro which was traveling at a high rate of speed westbound on Cook Road near Ione at about 4:10 p.m. Saturday, the CHP said in a release.

The driver, as yet unidentified, is thought to be a 16-year-old male from the Ione area. According to CHP reports, the driver allowed the vehicle to drift off the north roadway edge, apparently steered to the left and over-corrected. The vehicle continued across the roadway, left the south roadway edge and struck a tree, west of Dry Creek.

“The vehicle burst into flames after the impact,” the release said. “The driver died at the scene due to the impact and resulting fire.”

CHP Public Information Officer Craig Harmon said an autopsy was planned Monday to determine the identity of the driver. The vehicle was impounded for the continuing investigation. It was unknown if a safety belt was in use.

The Amador County Coroner’s Office said a positive identification of the deceased was pending further investigation.

Other accidents last week included a rolled Corvette, a Ford that took out a power pole and a stolen Mustang, which, after crashing, the car thief escaped despite the assistance of a sheriff’s K-9 unit.

A 41-year-old Citrus Heights woman was injured in the one-vehicle motorcycle crash Saturday at about 7:20 p.m. A CHP release said Michelle Collom was eastbound on Highway 88 at Cook’s Station when for unknown reasons her 2002 Honda motorcycle drifted to the right side of the road, eventually leaving the roadway and making contact with sand on the shoulder. The motorcycle skidded out of control and Collom was ejected.

Collom was airlifted by helicopter ambulance to University of California, Davis Medical Center where she was listed in good condition Tuesday morning.

A 42-year-old Jackson man suffered minor and moderate injuries after rolling a Corvette on a private driveway Wednesday after losing control of the vehicle due to gravel and striking a dirt berm on the roadside, CHP reported in a press release.

At about 10:20 p.m. Thursday, a 17-year-old Pine Grove man in a 1990 Ford was traveling south on Clinton Road “at a high rate of speed, applied the breaks and due to his speed, lost control,” another release said. The Ford left the road and collided with a power pole, severing the pole at the base and causing a power outage in the area, which HomeTown Radio reported was restored some time before 6:30 a.m. on Friday.

CHP, Ione Police Department and the Amador County Sheriff’s Office all were involved in investigating the theft of a 2004 Ford Mustang which was found crashed in a ditch Friday on Highway 124, just south of Sutter-Ione Road.

The CHP reported that the Mustang was traveling at an unknown speed, heading south on Highway 124.

“The driver, for unknown reasons, lost control of the vehicle and slid across the north-bound lane, onto the shoulder,” the release said and the vehicle “collided with a dirt embankment on the north-bound shoulder and came to rest on its wheels in a ditch.” After crashing, the driver fled the scene before CHP arrived.

Ione police determined that the Mustang had been reported stolen 20 minutes earlier, having been taken from an Ione residence. IPD recovered the stolen vehicle and the ACSO responded to the scene with a K-9 unit to search the surrounding area for the suspected, who was not found.

Ione handled a preliminary stolen vehicle report and CHP conducted a collision report.

If you or your loved one have been in an accident that involved a serious injury, know your legal rights by contacting the nearest Accident Attorney.

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