By Mary Weston
The Chico Enterprise-Record
RICHVALE, Calif. — Four people were injured Wednesday afternoon, when a Ford Taurus crashed into the front side of a Chevrolet Trailblazer at the intersection of Highway 162 and the Midway near this farming community.
One injured person was taken by helicopter and three others by ambulance to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
At about 1:13 p.m. Maxine Boyd, 62, of Oroville, was driving her Chevy Trailblazer on the Midway south of Richvale when the accident occurred, said Sgt. Robert Nevins of the California Highway Patrol. There was one passenger in her vehicle.
At the stop sign on Highway 162, Boyd turned east in front of Jesus Magana, 71, of Butte City, according to the CHP.
Magana was driving a Ford Taurus, heading west with a passenger on Highway 162 toward Butte City, Nevins said.
Magana veered to avoid an accident but hit the left front fender of Boyd’s Trailblazer. The Trailblazer spun around in the intersection of Highway 162, according to the CHP.
Magana’s Taurus continued off the south side of the highway, shot over an embankment and flipped into a grassy area near a rice field.
Highway 162 was closed at 2:14 p.m. for 15 minutes while the Flightcare helicopter landed.
Officers, firefighters and medical personnel got Magana out of the car, carted him up the embankment and put him in the helicopter.
Boyd and the two unidentified passengers were also taken from the vehicles and transported by ambulance to Enloe.
Nevins said everyone was wearing seat belts and the airbags inflated in both cars.
Nevins said he didn’t know the extent of the victims’ injuries.
Later, Tag Euritt of the CHP, said the injuries were considered minor and that Magana had a broken ankle.
Nevins said there was no indication that either driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but the investigating officer would evaluate their driving abilities.
Traffic was controlled on both roads until 2:44 p.m. when the intersection was reopened. The accident remains under investigation.
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