Four Locals Injured In Two-Vehicle Highway Collision
Sonora, CA – CHP officials are still investigating a crash that sent four to hospitals and slowed Highway 108 traffic Monday eve.
Officials report that around 5:20 p.m. 34-year-old Denver Jacob Bedford of Twain Harte was headed east in his 1996 Toyota pickup near East Avenue at a high rate of speed and for reasons still being investigated, allowed the truck to travel into the westbound lane.
After losing control, Bedford’s pickup crashed into the passenger side door of a westbound 1996 Jeep Cherokee with 56-year-old Randall Hall Banks of Sonora behind the wheel, and with passengers Mellita Cognetti, 33, of Jamestown, and Mary Dailey, 18, of Sonora.
The incident forced a 25-minute highway closure of the westbound lanes as responders assisted those injured. Westbound traffic was detoured to Twain Harte Drive. Bedford, who sustained minor injuries, was transported by air ambulance to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Cognetti was flown to Doctor’s Medical Center for treatment of major injuries.
Banks and Dailey, who both received minor injuries, were taken by ground ambulance to Adventist Health Sonora.
CHP Sonora Unit officials ask any witnesses to the collision to contact them at 209 984-3944. They add that alcohol and/or drugs are not suspected to be a factor in the incident.
