Minor injuries reported after three-vehicle Redding crash involving deputy’s patrol vehicle

REDDING, Calif., — A City of Shasta Lake sheriff’s deputy was hospitalized for evaluation after a three-vehicle collision involving the deputy’s patrol vehicle in Redding Thursday morning, Dec. 2.

No other injuries were reported after the wreck, which occurred on Lake Boulevard at Hilltop Drive, according to officials.

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City of Redding police and fire personnel were dispatched to the scene just before 7 a.m. when the deputy involved in the collision radioed emergency dispatchers and reported that he was involved in a traffic accident, Redding Police Sergeant Michael DiMatteo later said of the accident.

When officials arrived they found three involved vehicles, including the deputy’s marked patrol vehicle, as well as a 2003 Ford F150 and 2018 Ford F150, and immediately began evaluating and treating the occupants from the three vehicles.

A deputy assigned to City of Shasta Lake was hospitalized as a precaution after a three-vehicle collision that happened after a 79-year-old Redding man made an abrupt left turn, causing his pickup truck to jump a center divider, and led to the three-vehicle accident. Redding PD photos

The deputy’s Chevrolet Tahoe was found with moderate damage resting on a concrete center divider. The 2003 Ford pickup was found facing eastbound in the westbound lanes of Lake Boulevard with moderate damage, while the 2018 Ford truck was found in the parking lot of a nearby business.

Although the other occupants were uninjured, the involved deputy was transported to a local hospital for evaluation after the collision.

During their subsequent investigation, officers determined the accident happened when a 79-year-old Redding man, who had been traveling westbound on Lake Boulevard east of Hilltop Drive in the 2018 Ford, suddenly made an abrupt left turn, crossing up and over a raised concrete center divider to enter into a parking lot. 

When the first truck being driven by the elderly male jumped the raised center median and veered across the opposing lanes of traffic, the 56-year-old Redding driver of an oncoming 2003 Ford attempted to avoid a collision by swerving sharply to the left, but clipped the back of the first pickup.

After the initial impact, the second pickup continued over the center divider, where it then collided into the front of the patrol vehicle, which had been traveling directly behind the first truck that caused the chain-reaction crash.

The collision between the patrol vehicle and the second pickup truck was significant enough to cause the airbags to deploy in the deputy’s SUV. 

The Redding Police Department’s Traffic Unit is conducting this collision investigation and although they have said that alcohol and/or drug intoxication was not suspected in the crash, no further details have been released.



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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.