Three hurt in Yuba crash

Three people suffered serious injuries Tuesday when their car rolled down a ravine into a creek north of Browns Valley, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The 1999 Honda Civic was traveling south on Marysville Road between Nicole Way and Harbor Lane when driver Thomas Mouser, 25, of Marysville apparently attempted to pass other vehicles at an unknown rate of speed.

The Honda then appeared to return to its lane, drift onto the right shoulder and flip into the creek at 11:40 a.m., the CHP said.

The two-door car ripped through a tangle of blackberry bushes and a barbed-wire fence before landing in the water. Air bags hung limply out the windows, and the windshield was destroyed.

Mouser was flown to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with major injuries and was in serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Stephanie Kechum, 16, of Loma Rica also was flown to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with serious head and other injuries. She also was in serious condition, the spokeswoman said.

Ronald O’Brian, 15, of Challenge was taken to Rideout Emergency Center with moderate injuries. He was in guarded condition and was expected to be transported to University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Nobody was ejected from the vehicle, and one person had to be extricated from the car, the CHP reported. All three were wearing seatbelts and alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the crash.

Clothes, the car’s stereo and other debris were strewn on the edge of the road, and a pink bikini top hung on a tree branch near where the car landed. A man on an all-terrain vehicle watched with binoculars from across the ravine while the barely recognizable car was pulled up from the water and towed away.

Traffic was slow for about 45 minutes while the Loma Rica-Browns Valley Fire Department, CHP, Yuba County Sheriff’s Department and Marysville Cal Fire cleared the scene.

Ashley Gebb can be reached at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com