Downtown Santa Rosa crash pushes car into building

A 17-year-old Montgomery High School student was shaken up Saturday evening after her stopped car was rammed in a head-on collision in downtown Santa Rosa, pushing the vehicle into the B Street building that houses the Crossing the Jordan Thrift Store.

Tara Ziemer said she was stopped at a red light on southbound B Street about 5 p.m., waiting to turn left on to Fourth Street, when “out of nowhere” a woman driving an Acura sedan plowed into her car head-on, pushing it back about 150 feet into the building.

“I feel OK,” she said. “I feel fine, just a little shocked.”

The crash occurred at a crowded hour in downtown, with pedestrians making their way through the area as the Sonoma Strong community gathering wrapped up in nearby Old Courthouse Square.

Ziemer, a senior at Montgomery, said she was on her way to pick up her older brother from work at Treehorn Books, where he'd just finished up a shift. According to Redcom dispatchers, one person was taken to Kaiser Santa Rosa Medical Center for injuries, but it was unclear if it was the other driver.

The name of the Acura driver was not immediately available.

Ziemer was shaken, but reported no injuries at the scene.

Santa Rosa officers interviewed her as she sat on the curb near her mangled car. She was comforted by her older brother, Thomas Ziemer, 21, who was alerted to the crash moments after by her call.

Wreckage from both cars was strewn across the street. The tire marks from Ziemer's Toyota Avalon showed the path her car took before winding up in the side of the building.

Ryan Wolff, 29, said he was in the crosswalk in front of Santa Rosa Plaza, on his way back to work after a dinner break, when the woman driving the Acura ran the red light, driving right in front of him, and crashed into Ziemer. He estimated she was driving about 50 mph.

“It was just like full throttle straight across the intersection,” Wolff said. “I heard the revving and I looked up, and she was just coming ... right in front of my face.”

Police had not released an official account of the crash by deadline Saturday.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.