Sonora man dies, woman injured after vehicle crashes into tree near Jamestown
A Sonora man died and his passenger was injured Friday afternoon just outside Jamestown after his vehicle went off the road and hit a tree, the California Highway Patrol said.
CHP officers were called around 4:25 p.m. to the collision on Rawhide Road, west of Pulpit Rock Road.
An initial CHP investigation showed Michael Bowers, 45, was driving west on Rawhide Road in a 2001 Ford Focus when he drove off the north shoulder of the road and into a tree. After striking the tree, the Focus continued down an embankment before coming to a rest.
Bowers was pronounced dead at the scene, CHP said. His passenger, a 34-year-old Sonora woman, was air-lifted to Memorial Medical Center with major injuries.
Neither person was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, CHP said. Investigators are looking into alcohol and drugs as a possible factor.
