BASS LAKE – Residents and summer renters were out along Crane Valley road near the Pines Resort after a car crashed into a tree on Saturday night.
At 9:22 p.m. on June 29, Rebecca Gomes and her husband were sitting on the patio in front of their family’s summer home when they say a white Toyota Camry LE came screeching around the corner just to the north of their house, ran up on the embankment on the opposite side of the street, crossed back across the road and smashed into a tree.
“He must have been going 60 mph,” said Gomes. “People are always walking along this road with kids. I can’t believe someone is driving this fast.”
According to Mike and Rachel Bleier, who are visiting from Chicago and renting a cabin along the narrow street, both the driver and the passenger got out of the car on their own.
“The driver was holding his head, screaming ‘help me, help me,'” said Rachel. “He was kind of in and out of consciousness, and his eyes were rolling back in his head. We tried to calm him down and get him to lay down.”
The Bleiers had just arrived at their rental cabin after an 18-hour trip from Chicago, and were putting their 4-year-old daughter down for the night when they heard the crash just outside.
“We looked out the window of our daughter’s room, and saw the headlights pointed right at the house,” said Rachel. “If it hadn’t been for that tree, he could have crashed right into the side of the house where our daughter was sleeping.”
Mike and Rachel ran outside to help, and found the driver with a gash on his head, which was bleeding profusely. Mike ran back inside for a roll of paper towels which he then held to the wound to help staunch the flow of blood. They finally got the driver to lay down, and stayed with him while they waited for paramedics to arrive.
The Bleiers say the female passenger was laying on the ground just outside the car door, and was screaming, “I can’t feel my legs!”
Sierra Ambulance responded to the scene, along with Cal Fire Engine 4270, Madera County Sheriff and CHP.
Both the driver and passenger were transported to an area hospital with what were later determined to be non-major injuries.
After a sobriety check at the hospital, the driver was determined not to be under the influence at the time of the crash, according to the CHP.
