Reno motorcyclist dies in Sutter highway accident

A Reno man driving a 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was killed in a vehicle accident Friday on Highway 20 near Sutter, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Paul John Hendrickson, 54, was headed west with a passenger on Highway 20 when Carmichael's Gary Lee Defraga, 39, made a left turn, without apparently seeing the motorcycle, from eastbound Highway 20 onto Acacia Avenue and into Hendrickson's path, the CHP said.

The motorcycle plowed into the passenger side of Defraga's 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe, killing Hendrickson and sending his passenger, 49-year-old Debra Anne Campbell of Ripon, to Sutter Roseville Medical Center by helicopter with what CHP officers described as major injuries.

The collision also pushed the Tahoe into an 2003 Isuzu NPR cargo truck waiting at the intersection of 20 and Acacia, facing south.

Defraga and the driver and passenger in the truck were unharmed in the accident, which was reported at 1:53 p.m., said CHP Officer John Sowles. He said the accident was under investigation.

CHP Sgt. Mark Taylor said a determination of negligence could lead to manslaughter charges against Defraga. That would be up to the Sutter County District Attorney's Office.

The accident closed Highway 20 for about an hour until officers reopened the eastbound lane and continued diverting westbound drivers up Acacia and through Sutter.

The intersection was also the site of fatal accident in April 2009. Olivehurst resident Timothy Lamb, 48, died when the motorcycle he was riding was stuck by an SUV driven by Tiffany Fernandez of Yuba City.

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com .