By Greg Welter
Chico Enterprise-Record
CHICO, Calif. — Four people escaped with moderate to minor injuries about 1:35 p.m. Tuesday when their vehicle blew a tire on Highway 99 south of Neal Road and rolled over as it descended an embankment.
The California Highway Patrol said all four victims are related.
Though wearing a seat belt, a 10-year-old girl riding in the back seat was ejected out a window.
Three adults partially trapped by a crushed roof remained in the vehicle, a late-1990s model green Ford Explorer.
A passenger in the right front seat, Sacramento resident Susan Phillips, 53, received moderate injuries and was transported to Enloe Medical Center by FlightCare helicopter.
The girl, identified as Paris Walker, Phillips’ granddaughter, suffered lacerations to her foot and was taken to Enloe by ambulance.
Driver Ricky Phillips, 53, also of Sacramento, appeared to be in shock after the crash and was also transported to Enloe.
A passenger in the rear of the vehicle, Ryan Phillips, 30, of Chico, was not transported.
Los Molinos resident Jennifer Williams, a reserve sheriff’s deputy in Shasta County, said she spotted debris and broken guard rail supports as she passed the scene and stopped to investigate. She ran down the embankment and said she first noticed a girl lying next to the vehicle. She said all of the victims were conscious and talking.
Investigators said the right front tire on the Explorer appeared to blow out, causing it to jump a metal guard rail on the east side of the highway. The vehicle rolled over multiple times and came to rest on its wheels about 30 feet below the roadway in a muddy field.
Officials said Walker landed on soft ground after being ejected.
Emergency equipment responding to the crash blocked one lane of northbound 99 for more than an hour. Northbound traffic was backed up to just south of Durham Dayton Road.
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