On Wednesday, March 10 two men were involved in a single vehicle accident on Branscomb Road near Laytonville.

Joseph Shelton, 21, of Laytonville, was driving eastbound on Branscomb Road around 7:30 p.m. at an estimated speed of 40-45 mph in a 35-mph zone. Shelton allowed his vehicle, a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, to drift off the right side of the road where the right side tires of his vehicle entered a drainage ditch. He then oversteered his vehicle to the left and crossed the roadway out of control into a counter-clockwise spin. The Jeep went down the embankment and overturned, crashing through a fence, and came to rest on its roof in the front yard of a residence. Shelton, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected out the driver’s window and sustained moderate to major injuries. He was transported by ambulance to Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits.

A passenger in the vehicle, Levi Lamoureux, 21, also from Laytonville was wearing his seat belt and was uninjured in the accident.

According to the California Highway Patrol, alcohol appears to be a factor in the cause of this accident.