Repeat DUI driver, 24, cuts off CHP officer, arrested in Santa Rosa

A 24-year-old Santa Rosa man with four prior DUI convictions now faces a new felony DUI charge after he cut in front of a CHP officer and sped into an east Santa Rosa parking lot, according to the CHP.

A preliminary blood-alcohol test showed Zachary Woppert was at more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said.

Woppert, driving a Ford pickup, was arrested at about 8:40 p.m. Monday night after he’d crossed into the wrong lane, close to a CHP patrol car, Sloat said. The driver cut off the officer just before pulling quickly into a Montgomery Village parking lot on Hahman Drive.

The officer reported the driver traveled at about 20 mph through the crowded lot and then was stopped by the officer. The driver reportedly told the officer he was sorry for cutting him off.

Woppert failed sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of two counts of felony DUI as well as violating his probation and driving with a suspended license.

Woppert’s driving history included four prior DUI convictions and seven license suspensions, Sloat said. He remained in the Sonoma County Jail on Wednesday morning in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The Santa Rosa man was one of 28 people arrested on suspicion of impaired driving throughout Sonoma County during the long Memorial Day weekend, when 13 local law enforcement agencies targeted DUI enforcement. Sixteen of the arrests were made on county roads and highways by CHP officers.

There were 46 suspected DUI arrests made over Memorial Day weekend in 2014.

Another DUI case involved a 51-year-old Santa Rosa man arrested Friday night on suspicion of drunken driving and endangering his 11-year-old daughter, who was in the vehicle, Sloat said. It was the man’s second DUI case within a decade.