Driver unresponsive after van goes off Sonoma Coast cliff

A woman was gravely injured Saturday when a van she was driving went off a Sonoma Coast cliff off Highway 1 near Coleman Valley Road, fire officials said.

The white minivan carrying the driver, who appeared to be about 50 years old, and a dog traveled off a cliff at the Coleman Beach parking lot about 4:30 p.m. and crashed about 80 feet below on the rocky shoreline, authorities said.

CHP Sgt. Josh Kolstad said he had no preliminary information about why the vehicle had gone off the cliff.

While the hound dog appeared uninjured, the woman sustained major injuries and was “not responsive,” Bodega Bay Fire Capt. Justin Fox said.

A State Parks ranger hiked down to the crash, and Bodega Bay paramedics pulled her from the wreckage and helped load her onto a Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter basket so she could be airlifted from the beach to the parking lot. From there, a CHP helicopter flew her to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

As dusk fell Saturday, a tow service was pulling the vehicle from the shoreline up to the cliffside parking lot.

CHP officers were interviewing witnesses to the crash, which occurred about 3 miles north of Bodega Bay, Kolstad said.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.