Two airlifted after Trinity County crash with ejection – DUI suspected

TRINITY COUNTY, Calif. — Two people were airlifted with serious injuries after a solo-vehicle rollover crash with ejection Saturday afternoon, July 10. The driver was later arrested for DUI after the crash, which occurred on Highway 3, north of Hayfork and South of Douglas City.

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Trinity County emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene around 12:20 p.m. after receiving reports of a crash with one victim ejected and another trapped.

When officials arrived they found a 2003 Honda that appeared to have crashed over a dirt embankment and into a tree before overturning.

Officials found the driver was trapped inside the vehicle and the passenger had been ejected. Both men were later learned to be from the Hayfork area.

The 33-year-old passenger, Randell Cox, who was ejected from the overturning Honda, sustained major injuries and was in critical condition, according to California Highway Patrol.

The driver, 33-year-old Tyler Mead sustained moderate injuries and both victims were eventually airlifted to Mercy Hospital in Redding.

Officers who investigated the crash determined that the Honda was traveling southbound on Route 3 when the vehicle left the road on the west side. The vehicle then careened into a dirt embankment before smashing into a tree and overturning.

Mead was later arrested and booked into Trinity County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence resulting in injuries, according to CHP.

While officials worked at the scene both directions of the highway were closed down, but the roadway has since reopened



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Trevor Montgomery, 50, 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.