Hwy. 101 crash near Cloverdale splits car down middle, injures 2

Tom Bond was driving north on Highway 101 Saturday morning on his way to a farm he owns in Chico. He had just rounded a bend in the road about 8 a.m. when he saw smoke, and debris flying through the air.

The sight that met him was, he said, “the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many accidents.”

At first glance, it seemed the two-vehicle crash near Geysers Road must have been deadly. A Chevrolet Impala was split down the middle, half of it spun onto a hill alongside the highway. A Toyota Sequoia’s hood was squashed into its front seat.

There were injuries, but no fatalities.

Said Bond, 70, a former U.S. Air Force ambulance driver, “It was just unbelievable.”

According to the CHP, Apol Lansang, 25, of Sonoma, was driving her Impala south on Highway 101, near Geysers Road when she was struck by the northbound Sequoia being driven by Kevin Fenty, 27, of Huntington Beach, that drifted across the highway into Lansang’s lane.

The impact sliced Lansang’s car down the middle, sending the car’s entire passenger side onto the embankment. Fenty was ejected by the impact. Both drivers were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital — Lansang with minor injuries and Fenty with moderate injuries, according to the CHP.

“The scene was, it was pretty intense,” said Sgt. Jason Bahlman, who has been with the CHP for 16 years. “It was definitely one of the most severely damaged cars I’ve ever seen.”

The 8 a.m. crash shut down traffic on Highway 101 intermittently throughout Saturday morning. Its cause is still under investigation, but drugs are believed to be a factor.

There were about four or five cars between him and the accident, Bond said, the passengers of which all got out to tend to the injured.

“I was shaken,” he said. “I mean, my family is still shaken. I drive that stretch every single day. It is so dangerous.”

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Apol Lansang is 25. A previous story listed her age incorrectly, based on information from the California Highway Patrol.