CHP: Bodega Highway DUI suspect said he was headed to North Pole

The CHP arrested a dozen people on suspicion of driving while drunk or on drugs over the weekend, including a 22-year-old Sebastopol man who told officers he was heading to the North Pole to meet Santa.

Jeff Ainsworth’s effort to reach the North Pole was thwarted at about 4:10 a.m. Sunday when he crashed an Audi into a utility pole on Bodega Highway near Freestone, according to the CHP. The highway was shut in both directions for more than four hours while PG&E crews worked to deactivate downed power lines seen shooting sparks after the crash.

Ainsworth, who officers suspect was under the influence of methamphetamine, fought with an officer while being booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of DUI and driving without a license, Officer Jon Sloat said.

A 31-year-old Sebastopol man also fought with officers after crashing a pickup Friday night, Sloat said. A caller reported seeing a man with a beer in his hand walking away after driving a Dodge pickup off Bittner Road and getting stuck in mud near Occidental, Sloat said. Witnesses told officers that Gilberto Orduna stumbled into an Occidental restaurant after the crash and tried to order a drink, Sloat said. Orduna became belligerent when a CHP officer tried to escort him out of the business, according to the CHP. Orduna was arrested on suspicion of DUI, driving with a suspended license and obstructing officers, Sloat said.

Also Friday, a 49-year-old Guerneville man was found lying face down in the middle of Armstrong Woods Road at about?11 p.m. sheriff’s deputies found Raymond Bush several feet from the open driver’s door of a Chevrolet Blazer, Sloat said. Bush, who has four license suspensions and two DUI convictions, couldn’t perform a sobriety test, Sloat said. He was booked into the jail on suspicion of DUI, violating probation, driving with a suspended license and having a third DUI arrest within three years, Sloat said.