Big rig rolls over on Highway 99

A big rig overturned on Thursday afternoon on Highway 99, sending the driver and his pregnant fiancée to the hospital and spilling several hundred onions across a small field.

According to the Yuba-Sutter California Highway Patrol, Felton McCastle, 53, of Sacramento was headed north at 1:49 p.m. on Highway 99 when he slowed from 55 mph to take a curve north of where 99 meets Garden Highway.

The CHP said witnesses reported McCastle was traveling at the speed limit, but appeared to lose control as he slowed, overturning both his cab and trailer onto the eastern shoulder.

McCastle was able to escape the cab on his own, but fire crews had to extricate Katina Wright, 36, also of Sacramento, because of the way she was pinned in the overturned cab.

CHP Officer Amber Pincsak said Wright, who is one month pregnant, was taken to Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville with what was believed to be a fractured right wrist. McCastle was also taken to Rideout as a precautionary measure after complaining of back and neck pain.

Both Wright and McCastle were wearing seat belts when the accident happened, Pincsak said, and drugs or alcohol were not considered to have played a role in the crash.

The accident closed northbound 99, with traffic diverted onto Garden Highway. Southbound drivers were allowed through, with traffic controls. McCastle's load of red and yellow onions was scattered across a field on the east side of 99, with smashed ones giving off a distinct odor.

Highway 99 was reopened by 4 p.m.