CHP officers are looking for a woman hit-and-run driver who struck a motorcycle rider on Old Redwood Highway in Cotati and left him in a drainage ditch with major injuries.
The driver appeared to be an older woman in a silver, four-door Honda, possibly a Civic or Accord from the early 2000s, CHP Sgt. Allan Capurro said.
The crash occurred at 10:05 a.m. Aug. 19.
Motorcycle rider Jeffrey Asher, 58, of Petaluma has been hospitalized since the crash.
He initially was at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and then was transferred to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.
On Tuesday, he was in Kaiser's intensive-care unit in stable condition, according to a hospital spokesman.
Asher, a plumbing contractor, had gone to meet other motorcycle-riding friends for coffee that Sunday morning in Cotati, said Robin Gaynor, who said she and Asher have been a couple for 30 years.
Asher was on his way home, Gaynor said.
He was riding south on his Harley Davidson at about 30 mph, said Capurro. The Honda was behind him.
As Asher approached West Railroad Avenue, the Honda driver accelerated to illegally pass the bike on the right shoulder, Capurro said.
The Honda's left side hit the motorcycle, and Asher lost control and hit a guardrail.
Gaynor said Asher was thrown over his handlebars and landed about a dozen feet away in a ditch.
The driver never stopped.
The Honda could have damage to its left side, between the front and rear door, Capurro said.
Gaynor said Asher's injuries include eight broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade and a collapsed lung.
She said she hoped the driver would learn how badly Asher was hurt "so this person knows what they did and hopefully they'll turn themselves in."
Capurro asked anyone with information to contact him or Officer Kerri Post at 588-1400.
You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.
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