Crime & Safety
Suspected DUI Driver Arrested for 5-Car Pileup on Highway 101
The suspect's Ford truck was traveling at about 40 mph at the time of the crash, and he apparently did not see the traffic stopped in front of him.
A 64-year-old Rohnert Park man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after allegedly causing a five-car pileup on a U.S. Highway 101 off-ramp Monday afternoon that sent four people to the hospital, according to the California Highway Patrol.
At about 1 p.m., CHP officers responded to a report of a multi-car crash on the Wilfred Avenue off-ramp from southbound Highway 101.
According to the preliminary investigation, four vehicles were stopped one behind the other at a red light at the end of the off-ramp when a Ford F-350 truck driven by Gregory Midyett, of Rohnert Park, slammed into the rear car, a Chevrolet Sonic, causing a chain-reaction crash, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said.
The Sonic hit the car in front of it, a Hyundai Azera. The Azera then struck a second Ford F-350, pushing it forward into a Toyota pickup truck, Sloat said.
Midyett's Ford truck was traveling at about 40 mph at the time of the crash and he apparently did not see the traffic stopped in front of him, according to the CHP.
Four people -- a husband and wife from Guerneville who were in the Sonic, a Santa Rosa man who was driving the Hyundai and a Rohnert Park man who was behind the wheel of the second Ford truck -- were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
As officers spoke with Midyett, they noticed that he appeared to be extremely intoxicated.
A DUI investigation was initiated, and Midyett was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI causing injury, according to the CHP.
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