Sonoma Woman Identified As Victim In Fatal Lakeville Highway Crash

PETALUMA, CA — The Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office has identified the victim of a fatal crash Thursday on Lakeville Highway as Beverly Kleven, a 79-year-old woman who lived in Sonoma.

Petaluma police and fire personnel were dispatched at 12:37 p.m. Thursday to a two-car crash at state Highway 116 and Pine View Way and found a small SUV off the roadway to the north of westbound Lakeville Highway.

Kleven was found unresponsive inside the SUV, which had major damage to the driver's side, Petaluma police Lt. Jeremy Walsh said. She was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

A black BMW sedan with significant front-end damage came to rest in the eastbound lanes of Lakeville Highway. A 22-year-old man was driving the BMW and was treated at a hospital for minor injuries suffered in the crash, Walsh said.

Lakeville Highway was closed for nearly seven hours as the accident scene was investigated.

According to a news report, Kleven was driving north on Pine View Way in her SUV when she tried to turn left onto westbound Lakeville. That is when she was struck by the sedan which was traveling eastbound on Lakeville — resulting in major damage to the driver's side of the SUV, KSRO news radio reported.

Police said the driver of the sedan was cooperating with the investigation and there was no indication at the time of the collision that drugs or alcohol had a role.

Reached Wednesday, Walsh told Patch the cause of the crash was yet to be determined.

"Our traffic collision investigation team is still investigating," Walsh said.

The Petaluma Police Department asked anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact Officer Garrett Sholin at gsholin@cityofpetaluma.org or 707-776-3721.