William R. Bolt, a state drug agent and former officer with the San Rafael Police Department, was one of two people killed May 9, 1995, in a head-on crash on state Highway 37 west of Vallejo. The accident came only five days after a state senator urged that Highway 37 be designated a “killer highway” because of its long history of fatal accidents.

Bolt, 48, who was enroute to a two-week departmental training class in Concord, died instantly in the early morning collision near Skaggs Island. Bolt was wearing a seat belt but was apparently killed on impact.

A 31-year-old Fairfield woman driving west in a Toyota Corolla crossed the center line and collided with Bolt’s eastbound Mercury Cougar, said California Highway Patrol Officer Terry Pedrepti. She was also killed.

Funeral services for Bolt were held in his home town, Spirit Creek, Iowa.

Bolt, known to friends as Randy, was a special agent with the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement in San Francisco. He had recently married and lived in Petaluma.

Fellow officers who knew Bolt said he was devoted to police work. “Policemen have a way of falling in love with the job, and that’s what happened to Randy,” said San Rafael Officer Jim Cook.

Bolt served as a police officer in San Rafael from 1983 to 1988. He worked as a patrol officer and sexual assault investigator in San Rafael, and had attained the rank of corporal before leaving the department.

“He was a big, easy-going guy who liked riding motorcycles,” San Rafael Chief Bob Krolak said. “He was one of those guys you liked instantly when you met him.”

Krolak noted that Bolt remained friends with a number of San Rafael officers over the years since leaving the department. “A lot of people here are hurting,” he said.

Bolt had been a deputy with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office before he was hired in San Rafael.

Officer Cook said Bolt’s law enforcement career took off after he moved from the San Rafael department to stints with the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement in Riverside and San Francisco. “Working narcotics is a world in its own, and Randy really enjoyed that,” Cook said. “He thrived on the undercover work, the stealth, the surveillances.”

Bolt is survived by his wife Sandra [Younglove] and children Steven Bolt and Dianne Maddox, all of Petaluma.

Donations in memory of Randy Bolt may be sent to the S.A. Randy Bolt Memorial Fund, Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program, 1005 A Street, Suite 301, San Rafael, CA 94901, attn: Mike Grogon.