Crime & Safety

Coroner IDs Woman Killed In Crash On Adobe Road In Sonoma County

One person died and two people were airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew and a REACH helicopter crew airlifted two crash victims to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew and a REACH helicopter crew airlifted two crash victims to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. (Maggie Fusek/Patch)

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A Napa woman died and three people were injured in a chain-reaction crash Wednesday on Adobe Road east of Petaluma, the California Highway Patrol said.

Officers responded at 4:39 p.m. Wednesday to reports of a major-injury crash involving three vehicles on Adobe Road west of Stage Gulch Road, CHP Officer David deRutte said.

Preliminary investigation indicated a 78-year-old Sonoma man was driving a Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck eastbound on Adobe when, for unknown reasons at this time, he rear-ended a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck in the eastbound lane, deRutte said.

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A 51-year-old Napa man was driving the Silverado and the impact caused him to travel across the double-yellow lines into the westbound lane where he collided head-on with a Chevrolet Volt compact car, causing major damage, deRutte said.

There were two people in the Volt; a male driver and a female passenger.

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"Unfortunately, the passenger in the Chevrolet Volt sustained fatal injuries," deRutte said.

The crash victim has since been identified as Gail Forte, 63, of Napa, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office.

The Volt driver and the Silverado driver both suffered major injuries and were airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by a CHP helicopter crew and a Reach Helicopter crew.

The driver of the Colorado suffered minor injuries and was taken to the same hospital by ground ambulance.

The CHP asked anyone with information regarding this crash to call the Santa Rosa CHP Office at 707-588-1400.

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