Teen charged with manslaughter 9 months after Rohnert Park crash

A Rohnert Park teen was arrested Friday in the death of his friend and classmate in a violent drunken-driving crash in March.

Tyler Canales, now 18, was booked at Sonoma County Juvenile Hall for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Police said Canales was traveling at least 70 mph in a 35-mph zone as he headed up Camino Colegio toward El Camino Continuation School on the morning of March 20.

He lost control as he rounded a curve, sending the Honda Accord into the median.

The impact catapulted the car end over end into the air, where it sheared off the top of a tree at a height of 8 or 10 feet before landing on the street.

The crash killed his backseat passenger Kevin Michael Carr-Grillo, a 16-year-old El Camino student, and seriously injured his front-seat passenger, 17-year-old Chris Reynolds, also an El Camino student.

Reynolds was in a coma for an extended period of time, but has fully recovered, Rohnert Park Sgt. Joe Ferronato said.

Canales had been licensed for only six weeks and was in violation of his provisional license, which allowed teen passengers only with a licensed adult in the car, police said.

In early October, Ferronato said he was waiting for lab results from the state.

Those results, he said then, could provide the final piece necessary to proceed with the case.

Ferronato was not available for comment Friday afternoon.

Canales was booked on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of drugs and reckless driving.

You can reach StaffWriter Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.com.