Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers responded to a fiery DUI crash outside Windsor Sunday night, involving four passengers and the driver, later arrested for driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage.
According to a Jan. 24 Facebook post, Santa Rosa CHP officers responded to a crash at Old Redwood Highway and Eastside road at 9:50 a.m. Jan. 23 where they found a dark-colored Dodge Dart turned on its side, smoke and fire coming from the engine compartment.
The CHP’s preliminary investigation suggests Joel Mendez Santiago, 20, of Healdsburg, had reportedly been driving northbound on Old Redwood Highway towards Eastside Road where he allegedly ran the stop sign before his dark-colored Dodge Dart collided into a concrete wall, rolling on its side and catching on fire.
Officers began extinguishing the blaze when they arrived, and Santiago attempted to flee on foot, exiting the vehicle through the broken windshield. Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Santiago returned him to the scene, where Sonoma County Fire and CHP Helicopter H-30 had responded to assist.
“About a dozen deputies helped our CHP partners with this incident,” a Jan. 24 Sonoma Sheriff Facebook post reads. “Another example of local wall enforcement working well together.”
Two of the four passengers were found unresponsive with major injuries, while the other two had moderate injuries. No information was given regarding the medical status of Santiago. All five were transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, and Mendez was later booked into the Sonoma County Jail on charges of felony DUI, felony hit and run and driving without a license.
