Life-threatening injuries in suspected DUI crash

Five people in this BMW were injured on Feb. 3 on the South Shore. Photo/LVFPD

By Kathryn Reed

A Stateline woman was arrested Saturday on felony DUI charges that injured five other people, two of them with life-threatening injuries.

Bail was set at $125,000 for Hui Paxson, 29.

Paxson was driving east on Pioneer Trail near Vanderhoof Drive just after 11am Feb. 3 when she drifted into oncoming traffic, the California Highway Patrol told Lake Tahoe News. The Land Rover struck a BMW carrying five people.

Two people were flown to Renown Medical Center in Reno, with the others taken to Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe.

Lake Valley Fire officials said it took 20 minutes to extricate the front passenger of the BMW. She was one of the most critically injured. She was wearing a seat belt.

Because this is an on-going investigation, it is not known if everyone was wearing a seat belt.

Pioneer Trail on Feb. 3 was closed while emergency crews tended to victims in a head-on collision. Photo/Mike Rhoden

The other people were either out of the vehicle walking around or sitting when first responders arrived.

Some of the injuries sustained by the victims include a broken jaw, spinal fracture, brain bleed, concussion and compression fracture of the spine.

Occupants of the BMW were from out of town, with some from Napa, San Jose and China.

Paxson was taken to Barton before being booked into jail.

The road was close for about two hours as both of the totaled vehicles were cleared and officers collected evidence.