Santa Rosa wrong-way driver charged with murder in suspected DUI crash Santa Rosa wrong-way driver charged with murder in suspected DUI crash

A suspected drunken driver involved in a crash that killed a Santa Rosa woman on Highway 101 last month was charged with murder Thursday in Marin County Superior Court.

Kristine Collier, 47, was already on probation in Sonoma County for driving under the influence when, authorities said, she drove south on northbound Highway 101 Aug. 19 in her 2006 Mercedes-Benz sedan. She was north of the San Antonio Road exit just after 1 a.m. when her car collided head-on with a 2000 Honda Odyssey van driven by Sachiko Umehara, who was traveling in the correct direction, authorities said.

Umehara, 63, who with her husband owned Santa Rosa's Momiji Nursery, was transported to Marin General Hospital, where she died in surgery.

Collier, also of Santa Rosa, was taken from the crash to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, where she told CHP officers she remembered pulling over prior to the crash because she had to urinate, according to the affidavit. She said she did so in a cup before pulling back into traffic but could not remember anything else after that, according to the affidavit.

Collier was arrested after a pair of DUI tests, including a blood sample taken at the hospital about an hour and a half after the crash that showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.086 percent, according to the affidavit. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Collier also was charged Thursday with gross vehicular manslaughter, driving the wrong way on a freeway causing injury or death and other drinking-and-driving-related offenses.

She offered a different account of the moments before the crash after she had been transported from the Napa hospital to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where she told CHP investigators she was a wine salesperson conducting business in Fresno between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., according to the affidavit. She said she attended several restaurants in the area trying to acquire new clients and was wine tasting until about 3 p.m.

While driving back home to Santa Rosa, Collier said she encountered a lane closure in the Novato Narrows that steered traffic into the slow lane, and she decided to turn around to use a restroom at the last exit. After pulling over and waiting for traffic to go by, she said she made a U-turn to head in that direction, according to the affidavit.

Collier told the CHP she remembered driving in the lane but nothing else until a fireman was treating her at the scene of the crash. She said she had stopped drinking five hours before heading back to Santa Rosa to remain compliant with the terms of her DUI probation, set to expire in April 2018, according to the affidavit.

A CHP officer's search of Collier's vehicle Aug. 23 turned up open and uncorked wine bottles with “varying volumes” of wine missing from each, according to the affidavit. The officer also found a silver travel mug about half-full of what he believed to be red wine.

Collier was previously arrested on suspicion of DUI in 2014 and 2015.

She pleaded guilty to driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than 0.08 percent and admitted an enhancement for having minors in the car, the affidavit states.

At that time, she was advised of the legal jeopardy - including possible murder charges - she would face should a future DUI incident result in another person's death.

For the victim's daughter, Christina Umehara, 32, the timing of the crash was particularly difficult because it happened just days before her planned wedding in Hawaii. Her mother was helping her with the planning.

“She was really excited,” Christina Umehara said. “So it's just really hard.”

The night of the crash, Sachiko Umehara was driving from San Mateo, where her daughter lives, back home to Santa Rosa. She had wanted to make a morning appointment with a physical trainer to be in shape for the wedding, which went ahead last weekend.

Umehara, kind and detail-oriented, according to her daughter, went extra lengths in her planning to ensure the elderly guests would have cushions on their seats so they would not be uncomfortable.

“It doesn't feel real,” Christina Umehara said. “It doesn't seem possible. How does this happen?”

Momiji Nursery, on Stony Point Road, specializes in Japanese maples. Mike Umehara, Sachiko's husband, said his wife was a diligent and caring businesswoman.

“She made sure people realized how special the maples were and made sure they went to the right place and the right people, which was kind of her trademark,” he said.

In addition to her husband and daughter, Umehara is survived by a son, Eric, 33.

A suspected drunken driver involved in a crash that killed a Santa Rosa woman on Highway 101 last month was charged with murder Thursday in Marin County Superior Court.

Kristine Collier, 47, was already on probation in Sonoma County for driving under the influence when, authorities said, she drove south on northbound Highway 101 Aug. 19 in her 2006 Mercedes-Benz sedan. She was north of the San Antonio Road exit just after 1 a.m. when her car collided head-on with a 2000 Honda Odyssey van driven by Sachiko Umehara, who was traveling in the correct direction, authorities said.

Umehara, 63, who with her husband owned Santa Rosa's Momiji Nursery, was transported to Marin General Hospital, where she died in surgery.

Collier, also of Santa Rosa, was taken from the crash to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, where she told CHP officers she remembered pulling over prior to the crash because she had to urinate, according to the affidavit. She said she did so in a cup before pulling back into traffic but could not remember anything else after that, according to the affidavit.

Collier was arrested after a pair of DUI tests, including a blood sample taken at the hospital about an hour and a half after the crash that showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.086 percent, according to the affidavit. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Collier also was charged Thursday with gross vehicular manslaughter, driving the wrong way on a freeway causing injury or death and other drinking-and-driving-related offenses.

She offered a different account of the moments before the crash after she had been transported from the Napa hospital to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where she told CHP investigators she was a wine salesperson conducting business in Fresno between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., according to the affidavit. She said she attended several restaurants in the area trying to acquire new clients and was wine tasting until about 3 p.m.

While driving back home to Santa Rosa, Collier said she encountered a lane closure in the Novato Narrows that steered traffic into the slow lane, and she decided to turn around to use a restroom at the last exit. After pulling over and waiting for traffic to go by, she said she made a U-turn to head in that direction, according to the affidavit.

Collier told the CHP she remembered driving in the lane but nothing else until a fireman was treating her at the scene of the crash. She said she had stopped drinking five hours before heading back to Santa Rosa to remain compliant with the terms of her DUI probation, set to expire in April 2018, according to the affidavit.

A CHP officer's search of Collier's vehicle Aug. 23 turned up open and uncorked wine bottles with “varying volumes” of wine missing from each, according to the affidavit. The officer also found a silver travel mug about half-full of what he believed to be red wine.

Collier was previously arrested on suspicion of DUI in 2014 and 2015.

She pleaded guilty to driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than 0.08 percent and admitted an enhancement for having minors in the car, the affidavit states.

At that time, she was advised of the legal jeopardy - including possible murder charges - she would face should a future DUI incident result in another person's death.

For the victim's daughter, Christina Umehara, 32, the timing of the crash was particularly difficult because it happened just days before her planned wedding in Hawaii. Her mother was helping her with the planning.

“She was really excited,” Christina Umehara said. “So it's just really hard.”

The night of the crash, Sachiko Umehara was driving from San Mateo, where her daughter lives, back home to Santa Rosa. She had wanted to make a morning appointment with a physical trainer to be in shape for the wedding, which went ahead last weekend.

Umehara, kind and detail-oriented, according to her daughter, went extra lengths in her planning to ensure the elderly guests would have cushions on their seats so they would not be uncomfortable.

“It doesn't feel real,” Christina Umehara said. “It doesn't seem possible. How does this happen?”

Momiji Nursery, on Stony Point Road, specializes in Japanese maples. Mike Umehara, Sachiko's husband, said his wife was a diligent and caring businesswoman.

“She made sure people realized how special the maples were and made sure they went to the right place and the right people, which was kind of her trademark,” he said.

In addition to her husband and daughter, Umehara is survived by a son, Eric, 33.