Auburn police are searching for a driver who turned left in front of traffic Friday morning, caused a head-on crash between two other vehicles, and kept on driving.

Two people suffered major injuries and a dog died in the accident.

•  An aggressive driver in an Acura made a left turn onto a rural highway without regard to traffic.

•  A pickup truck swerved to keep from hitting the Acura and crashed head-on into a minivan. Both drivers suffered major injuries. One was airlifted in critical condition.

• The Acura driver fled the scene, but a witness photographed him in the car and got the license number.

The highway crash occurred at 9:50 a.m. north of Auburn, according to a report in the Grass Valley Union.

California Highway Patrol officer David Martinez said a a white 1994 Accura Integra driven by a white man in his mid-20s was traveling westbound on Lone Star Road, just south of the Bear River bridge, when the accident occurred.

The Acura pulled out in front of traffic and made a left turn onto Highway 49, causing vehicles to scramble to try to get out of the way.

“Several cars had to take evasive actions” to avoid the Accura, Martinez said.

Sixty-year-old Sandy Castle of Grass Valley was driving a black 2001 Ford pickup truck south on Highway 49 at the time. When she swerved to avoid hitting the Acura, her vehicle veered across the center line into oncoming traffic, Martinez said. The pickup truck crashed head-on into a gray 2005 Honda Odyssey minivan in the northbound left-turn lane.

Both Castle and the elderly man who was driving the Honda — 76-year-old Edmund Moley of Auburn – suffered major injuries. Castle was airlifted by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition. Moley was transported to the same hospital via ground ambulance. Hiss condition was not known.

To add to the tragedy of the accident, a dog who was riding in one of the vehicles also was critically injured in the accident. Emergency responders summoned Animal Control officials, who had to euthanize the dog.

The Acura that caused the accident drove away. An Auburn business owner who witnessed the accident said he pulled up alongside the Acura and honked to get the driver to pull over.

“I pulled him over and said, ‘Open the window, open the window,’” Auburn Tattoo Company owner Steve Clemente told the Colfax Record.

Before the Acura had a chance to drive away, Clemente snapped a picture of the driver and the license plate of the car. He shared his images with a CHP officer at the scene.

The California license plate number of the Acura is 3HXL657. CHP officer Eric Karla said the vehicle is registered to an owner in San Jose, but the driver was not the owner.

Anyone with information about the Acura Integra or its driver is urged to call the CHP at 916-663-3344.

Here are more photos of the accident. Click on a thumbnail to see it full-size.

Auburn Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for more than 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.