Cottonwood man in motorized wheelchair struck by vehicle

Photo by Michael Woodward

LIGHT COLLISION: An unidentified man in a motorized wheelchair was taken to Mercy Medical Center after a traffic collision on Tuesday.

An unidentified Cottonwood man in a motorized wheelchair was struck by a large pickup driven by Andy Alcala, of Cottonwood, shortly before noon on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the northbound Interstate 5 off-ramp intersecting Gas Point Road.

After driving north on the I-5 off-ramp to Gas Point Road, Alcala said he stopped and looked for traffic before the motorized wheelchair drove in front of his vehicle. apparently headed westbound for an island in the off-ramp, CHP Officer Bronson said.

The man was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center for a cut on his head, according to Cottonwood Fire Protection District firefighter Mark Ratledge, who added that the man complained of no other pain.

While not witnessing the accident, bystander Terri Richards, of Cottonwood, reported that she witnessed the man regularly in his wheelchair in the Cottonwood area.

While there are sidewalks on the Gas Point Road overpass, there are no sidewalks leading to the intersection or crosswalks marked at the the intersection.

Ratledge said there are relatively few accidents at the location. However, it was the second accident in Cottonwood in as many years involving a pickup truck and a motorized wheelchair.

On Feb. 26, 2008, John Allen Cochran, 57, also of Cottonwood was traveling northbound along the western edge of Willow Street near First Street when it was hit by a southbound pickup driven by Katherine M. Bailey, 47, also of Cottonwood. Cochran died of his injuries while en route to a Redding hospital.

Bailey was arrested at the scene on charges of public intoxication, driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. In March 2008, she pleaded guilty to a single charge of vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to two years in state prison. All other charges were dropped.