Santa Rosa man seriously hurt in River Road crash

A 27-year-old Santa Rosa man was seriously injured Friday night when he slammed his van into a big rig that was crossing River Road near Trenton-Healdsburg Road, CHP officials said.

Cordellero Lee had to be freed from the 2001 Dodge van he was driving and was taken by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with significant injuries, CHP spokesman Marcus Hawkins said. His condition was unknown.

Lee was the only person in the van, which was registered to a Catholic youth group in the East Bay.

The big rig, which was towing two trailers, was making a left turn onto River Road and his cab and first trailer had cleared the intersection when Lee’s car collided with the second trailer. Hawkins said the initial investigation showed Lee may have been driving too fast around a blind curve.

The crash, which occurred just before 8 p.m., shut down a portion of River Road for the about an hour while emergency personnel worked to free Lee.

The driver of the big rig was not injured and was able to drive his truck away from the crash, Hawkins said.

Neither alcohol nor drugs were believed to be a factor, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Elizabeth M. Cosin at 521-5276 or elizabeth.cosin@pressdemocrat.com.