The California Highway Patrol Ukiah Office has announced investigators are actively seeking a driver of a tan Toyota Sienna Van who reportedly fled the scene of a Hopland Hit-and-Run traffic collision that left the other driver moderately injured on the afternoon of Tuesday, January 4, 2021.
The press release indicates CHP units were dispatched to a Hit-and-Run collision on SR-175 east of Hopland involving a 2011 Cadillac and a 1998 Toyota Sienna around 3:25 p.m. When officers arrived on the scene, officers found the driver of the Toyota van had fled the scene.
As a result of the collision, the driver of the red Cadillac, 59-year-old Lakeport man Kevin Machen, suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Adventist Health Ukiah Valley. Multiple tips are being investigated, the press release explains, and more broadly the agency is “requesting assistance from the public in gathering further information.
Samantha Mitchell, a Lake County resident and a motorist who watched the incident occur, told us on Tuesday afternoon she witnessed the van exit a vineyard “right into oncoming traffic.” This resulted in the van colliding with the Cadillac. Mitchell told us she exited her vehicle to check on the occupants, and as she approached six separate subjects exited the Toyota Sienna, running past the injured Machen, towards a pick-up truck that seemed to be picking them up from the scene.
Mitchell actually took video footage of the scene and in one of the clips questioned one of them who fled the incident about their actions saying, “Where are you going? That guy is hurt. Why are you running away?”
Anyone with known information pertaining to Tuesday’s Hit-and-Run incident is asked to call Ukiah CHP at (707)467-4420.
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I feel like the vineyard owner or at least the manager will know exactly who these workers are. But this also points out a flaw in California, where a non resident from south of the border can get a driver’s license here with no issue and they are not required to have insurance… Fun stuff I hope the Lakeport resident in the Cadillac is doing ok.