Firefighters work to extract the driver of the Crown Victoria Monday afternoon. Photo by: Bill Lavallie Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison said it appeared the elderly couple in the Crown Victorian had steered into the path of this gray Buick while leaving the parking lot of True Value Hardware. Photo by: Bill Lavallie

A crowd of onlookers stood in shock, some with tears in their eyes, as Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison draped a blanket over the body of a woman who'd been ejected from a two-car collision on Highway 88/49 near Hoffman Street Monday afternoon.

"This isn't what I was expecting to find," Morrison remarked solemnly as he watched Jackson Firefighters struggle to free a bleeding man trapped in the same remnants of a Ford Crown Victoria that had ejected the woman.

Morrison said it would take some investigation to determine exactly what triggered the crash. He added that, at the moment, it appeared the couple in the Crown Victoria had steered into the path of a gray Buick while leaving the parking lot of True Value Hardware. The Buick was coming westbound and T-boned the couple. The Crown Victoria rolled, throwing the woman onto the pavement. Firefighters on the scene did not believe the woman was wearing her seat belt.

The highway between Jackson Library and the post office was soon crowded with emergency responders, causing a blockage in the main artery of traffic pulsing through the city. The California Highway Patrol attempted to help the Jackson Police Department get cars moving as firefighters and paramedics continued with their work.

Within a half-hour, the driver of the Crown Victoria was removed. He was taken to Sutter Amador Hospital with head injuries. The driver of the Buick refused treatment.

The name of the woman killed in the crash is being withheld, pending notification of the family.