Woman seriously injured, airlifted, after Burney motorcycle crash

June 18, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

BURNEY, Calif. — A woman was seriously injured and airlifted to a Redding trauma center after a motorcycle she was a passenger on crashed while traveling on Black Ranch Road near Burney earlier this afternoon, Friday, June 18. Black Ranch Road is an approximately nine mile stretch of two-lane roadway connecting highways 299E and 89, at Clark Creek Road, that alternates between blacktop and hard-packed dirt.

CHP has said the woman’s boyfriend, who was operating the motorcycle and was not seriously injured when the crash occurred, was traveling too fast and failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The motorcycle careened off the road and crashed into a large oak tree, ejecting both victims from the motorcycle.

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CHP and other emergency personnel were notified regarding the solo-vehicle crash around 4:30 p.m., CHP Officer Chris Ogden told SCNS after the accident, which occurred about five to six miles northeast of SR-299E.

When responding emergency personnel arrived at the scene they found a female motorcycle passenger down with a badly broken leg.

Due to the severity of her broken leg and other possible injuries, an air ambulance was requested to airlift the woman, since identified by Ogden as Sundae Howard, 40, of Burney. After being stabilized at the scene of the accident, Howard was transported by ground ambulance to a landing zone at the Burney Sheriff’s Station, where she was met by the air ambulance and transported to Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

“She was wearing her helmet, which is lucky, because it probably saved her life,” Ogden explained; saying, “The helmet really took the brunt of the impact damage.”

The motorcycle involved in the crash, described by Ogden as a Harley Davidson-style, was still rideable after the accident and the woman’s boyfriend, identified at the time only as “Joe” de Reus, had left the scene of the crash prior to Ogden’s arrival; likely to meet the victim at the hospital, according to the officer.

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“There is no indication that alcohol or drug intoxication were contributing factors in the crash,” said Ogden; adding that CHP’s investigation into the full cause of the crash is continuing.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.