Alcohol was not a factor in a Santa Rosa crash that sent two men to the hospital Thursday afternoon, according to the CHP.
Police had originally suspected it might be because emergency personnel said they smelled alcohol on the men and in the car.
The men were injured when a car and a big rig carrying a dump truck collided on Airport Boulevard north of Santa Rosa Thursday.
The car, a white Ford Escort, had just come off the Highway 101 off-ramp and appeared to be making an illegal U-turn on Airport Boulevard around 1:30 p.m. when it turned into the path of the big rig, said CHP spokesman Jonathan Sloat.
The Ford was badly damaged and its driver, 23-year-old Troy Bowen of Santa Rosa, was rushed to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with severe head trauma, Sloat said. His passenger, 23-year-old Cameron Brayson, also of Santa Rosa, was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center with minor injuries.
The driver of the big rig, 52-year-old Kirvin Holtz of Santa Rosa, was not injured, Sloat said.
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