CHP Officer Killed In Mendocino County Head-On Crash
LEGGETT, Mendocino County (AP) -- A California Highway Patrol officer has been killed in a Mendocino County car crash that left Highway 101 closed in an isolated stretch of redwood country.
CHP Public Information officer Paul Dahlen told the Press-Democrat of Santa Rosa that Officer Thomas Adams was traveling north on the highway near the Humboldt County border around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday when his patrol car and a Toyota heading south hit head-on.
Dahlen said Adams, a 24-year-old Fortuna resident who had been on the force for two years, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Toyota's driver, 39-year-old Jeff Kidd of Perris (Riverside County) and his passenger were taken to a Garberville hospital and later released.
Dahlen says it looks like one of the vehicles crossed over the highway into oncoming traffic, but investigators have not determined which one.
Highway 101 remained closed in both directions on Tuesday night.
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