Names And Details Released On Several Crashes In Calaveras County

Calaveras County, CA — Three wrecks kept the CHP busy on Wednesday, two involved head-on collisions resulting in major injuries and closed Highway 12, twice.

As reported here yesterday, a head-on crash on Highway 12 west of Highway 49 around 1 p.m. blocked the roadway for about hour as two people were trapped in their vehicles and had to be freed. The CHP reports 25-year-old Isabelle Guthrie of Sand Point, Idaho driving westbound in a 1991 Toyota pickup admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel causing her truck to cross into oncoming traffic.  The pickup smashed into a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis driven by Linda Quesinberry of Valley Springs. Both women suffered major injuries, Quesinberry was flown to Modesto Memorial Medical Center and Guthrie was taken by ambulance to Doctor’s Medical Center.

Later in the evening, also on Highway 12 east of Double Springs Road, another head-on crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. The CHP reports 17-year-old Nicole Speziale of San Andreas driving eastbound in a 1995 Nissan Maxima crossed the double-yellow lines smashing into a 2001 Dodge pickup driven by 58-year-old Mark Schlegelmilch of Valley Springs. The wreckage blocked the roadway for a short time as tow crews removed the debris. Speziale and Schlegelmilch suffered major injuries.

The CHP report drugs or alcohol were not a factor in either crash, however, that was not the case in a solo motorcycle crash on Highway 4 near Hunter Dam Road around 7:30 p.m. The CHP reports 61-year-old Alfred Bustos of Forest Meadow driving westbound on a 1999 Harley Davidson Dyno Glide lost control of the vehicle on a curve and crossed the highway and smashed into a tree. Bustos was thrown down an embankment onto a dirt gutter along Hunter Dam Road below the highway where a passing motorist spotted him. Bustos suffered moderate injuries. The CHP states he may face criminal charges for DUI.