One killed, two injured in suspected DUI crash on Highway 101 near Petaluma

A Lakeport man was killed and two people suffered major injuries Saturday when a drunken driver turned into a construction zone on Highway 101 south of Petaluma, driving nearly two miles on a closed frontage road before slamming into a concrete structure, the CHP said.

The driver, Teodulo Francisco Tovar Jr., 29, was arrested on charges of vehicular homicide while intoxicated, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said. He was in grave condition at Marin General Hospital.

His mother, Veronica April Anderson, 57, of Lakeport, also sustained major injuries and is being treated at Marin General, Sloat said.

A second passenger in the car died about an hour after the 11:42 a.m. Saturday accident. The CHP withheld the name of the Lakeport man, pending notification of his family.

Tovar was driving his 2002 Chrysler Sebring convertible south on Highway 101 near the Gas & Shop off Kastania Road when he crossed into an active construction zone next to the right shoulder, Sloat said. Despite several barricade signs alerting motorists, Tovar drove about 1.8 miles down the partially finished frontage road before his car went airborne over a gap in the pavement and crashed head on into a concrete structure.

The frontage road is closed while workers realign and widen Highway 101 through the Novato Narrows and replace the bridge over San Antonio Creek at the Sonoma/Marin county line.

After CHP officers detected the smell of alcohol, Tovar acknowledged he’d drank alcohol and smoked marijuana earlier in the day, Sloat said. He was placed under arrest but remains at the hospital for medical treatment.

Staff Writer Diane Peterson contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336.