Suspect arrested after bicyclist killed in Santa Rosa hit-and-run crash

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A suspect in a hit-and-run crash near Santa Rosa that killed a bicyclist last week was arrested on Wednesday, authorities said.

The collision happened sometime during the evening of Sept. 27 on Guerneville Road near Frei Road just west of the Santa Rosa city limit. The California Highway Patrol said in a social media post on Thursday that officers responded the next morning at about 7:44 a.m. to a report of a pedestrian down on Guerneville Road. The officers determined the person had been on a bicycle and was struck the previous night.

The CHP said the investigation determined that a white Ford Ranger pickup truck was the suspect vehicle, and a citizen had reported a damaged Ford Ranger parked in a residential neighborhood on Pawnee Street, south of W. Steele Lane in Santa Rosa. The pickup truck was impounded and the investigation continued to locate the driver, the CHP said. 

On Wednesday afternoon, officers found and made contact with the unidentified suspect at a convenience store on Steele Lane. He was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail on charges that included felony hit-and-run resulting in death and felony DUI, the CHP said.

Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact the CHP’s Santa Rosa office at 707-806-5600.