Police are mystified about why a man crashed his work truck through the wall of a Fort Bragg motel on Friday night, killing a Lafayette woman in her room and injuring her 7-month-old nephew.
No relationship has been established between the driver of the truck, Michael Bradford Bitney, 56, of Fort Mohave, Arizona, and the victim, Karen Zuehlsdorf, 45, of Lafayette, California.
Zuehlsdorf was in the room next to Bitney at the Beachcomber motel, located north of Fort Bragg near the Pudding Creek Trestle. He got in his truck parked out front of the rooms and then crashed through the wall of her room, killing her.
“Karen was up for the weekend with a group of friends. The mother of the baby [the woman”s sister] and the rest of the group went to ride the Skunk Train, and Karen stayed behind with the baby [her nephew]. She had no connection to the driver, except that she was a guest in the room next to his. Wrong place at the wrong time. A tragedy,” said a friend who asked that her name be withheld.
When Fort Bragg Police arrived about 6 p.m. Friday, Zuehlsdorf had been removed from the room and there was an effort to save her life going on outside the motel.
“Witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a white pick-up truck with a utility bed or tool boxes on the back [with Oregon plates]. The vehicle was reported as fleeing northbound on SR-1 being driven by a white male adult,” a Fort Bragg Police press release stated.
“A Be On the Look Out was broadcasted to surrounding law enforcement agencies, and the vehicle was stopped by a California State Parks ranger at approximately mile marker 68.50 on North Highway 1 [near Ten Mile Bridge],” the press release stated.
A state park ranger pulled Bitney over just minutes after the crash. She said she had detained the suspect and witnesses were driven to where he was pulled over. He was identified, then arrested and booked at the jail.
A subsequent investigation will have to determine whether the crash through the motel wall was an accident or not. Fort Bragg Police Sgt. Brandon A. Lee, who issued the press release, said intent has not been determined. He said no relationship between Bitney and the victim has been found other than that they were staying in adjacent rooms.
Rumors
After the incident, widespread reports on Facebook, MCN Listservs and other social media gave incorrect reports about what had happened, exaggerating the number of victims and seemingly making up many “facts.” Sgt. Lee said they were dealing with fallout from that.
When this reporter went to the hotel on Sunday, nobody would comment at all. Police issued the press release on Monday for the Friday incident, with rumors, most of them apparently incorrect, circulating on social media all weekend.
The charges initially listed on the jail booking log were vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit and run and a misdemeanor battery charge. Bail was first set at $55,000, much lower than usual in such a case.
Monday, two felony charges were added — a prior strike conviction and penalty enhancements for a habitual criminal — and bail was increased to $155,000.
Zuehlsdorf leaves behind a 16-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son.
