Woman, baby killed in head-on crash involving intoxicated driver near Live Oak
LIVE OAK — A Gridley woman and a 1-year-old child were confirmed as the two people killed in a head-on crash in Sutter County on Friday.
The Sutter County Sheriff's Office identified the woman as 21-year-old Allyson Nohelia Navarro-Salazar. The baby was also from Gridley but the sheriff's office said it would not release their name at this time.
A 23-year-old man from Gridley was a passenger in the vehicle with the baby and Navarro-Salazar, the driver. He suffered major injuries and remains in the hospital.
Investigators said the fatal crash happened shortly after 6:30 p.m. in the area of Highway 99 and Paseo Road, just south of Live Oak. Prior to this, the suspect accused of causing the crash was believed to have been involved in a separate collision in the town of Live Oak.
The CHP Yuba-Sutter division said that suspect, who was intoxicated, left the scene before first responders arrived and headed southbound on Highway 99, just north of Paseo Road at an undetermined speed. Navarro-Salazer was driving northbound on Highway 99 at this time.
Investigators said the suspect crossed over the double yellow lines at some point and side-swiped one vehicle before crashing head-on with Navarro-Salazar's vehicle. After this, a fourth vehicle struck one of the two vehicles that collided head-on.
The suspect suffered moderate injuries in the crash while the driver in the vehicle that was sideswiped suffered no injuries. The driver in the fourth vehicle suffered minor injuries.
Drugs and alcohol appear to have been factors in the crash, the CHP said.