Victim in fatal suspected DUI crash west of Santa Rosa identified

The CHP said the Sebastopol driver was going too fast and lost control on a curve, causing the truck to hit a culvert and overturn.|
RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The passenger killed in a suspected drunken driving crash west of Santa Rosa Sunday was Ilana Wolfe of Virginia, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

Wolfe, 36, of Paeonian Springs, had been riding with Chanowk Pendergrass, 29, of Sebastopol as he drove south on Llano Road at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

Pendergrass, driving a 2008 GMC Sierra pickup, was going too fast for a curve near Doyle Road and lost control, the CHP said. The truck hit a concrete culvert and flipped.

Firefighters from Sebastopol and Rincon Valley responded and found the truck upside down and badly crushed.

Wolfe, who was killed in the impact, had to be cut free from the wreckage. Pendergrass was able to crawl out on his own, Sebastopol Fire Chief Bill Braga said Monday.

CHP officers arrested Pendergrass on suspicion of felony drunken driving and manslaughter. He was injured in the crash and taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

- Randi Rossmann

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