YREKA, Calif. — A man from the Yreka area is dead after a collision with a woman driving a stolen vehicle on a remote one-lane dirt road, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The woman was later taken into custody.
Around midnight on Thursday morning, a woman later identified as 44-year-old Amber Roberts of the Yreka area was driving a 1969 Dodge truck downhill from her home on US Forest Service Road 46N22 — about one half-mile from Humbug Creek Road.
As Roberts drove down the dirt road, investigators believe that 47-year-old Ronald Kistle was riding up the same road on his Suzuki dirt bike, hugging the left side. As the two of them rounded a curve, their vehicles connected — with the front of Kistle's motorcycle striking the front passenger-side of the truck that Roberts was driving.
CHP says that Kistle was wearing a "full face motocross style helmet," but his leg was fractured in the crash.
Investigators believe that Kistle was responsive immediately following the crash, but cell service in the area is often unavailable. Roberts apparently left the scene to go call for help.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) reportedly received a 911 call just after 1 a.m., but the signal dropped. Dispatchers were able to catch the "location and the need for assistance," and they sent a deputy to the reported location.
Around 2:30 a.m, the same caller apparently got a signal again, calling SCSO and informing them that the incident was a two-vehicle collision involving a motorcycle. SCSO informed CHP, who sent units out to the area.
When the deputy originally dispatched on the first call reached the scene, he found that Kistle had succumbed to his wounds.
CHP says that investigation of the scene led them to take Roberts into custody. The 1969 Dodge she was driving at the time of the incident had been reported stolen out of MacDoel, and Roberts also was the subject of an outstanding warrant.
The investigation continues, and there is not yet any indication whether Roberts will be charged for Kistle's death in the crash.
