1 arrested, 6 injured in Highway 101 crash on Saturday

A woman was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and a man arrested on suspicion of DUI following a three-vehicle crash Saturday afternoon on Highway 101 south of santa Rosa, the CHP said in a news release.

The crash, reported at 4:08 p.m., occurred on the northbound side of the highway just past Golf Course Drive.

Heavy traffic had brought vehicles to a stop, but a driver of a Chevy Silverado failed to slow down and slammed into a Toyota Corolla at high speed, according to the news release. The Toyota was pushed forward, striking the Mazda 3 stopped immediately in front of it.

The driver of the Chevy, Augustin Delariva, 29, of Santa Rosa, left the freeway, the CHP said. He stopped at the off-ramp for Santa Rosa Avenue, where CHP officers contacted him. He was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI, felony hit and run and misdemeanors related to a previous DUI conviction, the agency said.

Drivers and passengers in the cars that were struck suffered injuries. Redwood City resident Lourdes Velasquez, 57, suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. CHP Officer David deRutte said Velasquez was then transported over the weekend to Stanford Hospital, though he had no update Tuesday on her current condition.

Velasquez was one of four passengers in the Toyota, in addition to driver Katya Herrera, 38, of Carmichael, who was taken to Kaiser with moderate injuries, the release said. Herrera’s three other passengers — Ivone Palencia, Manuel Palencia and Cindy Lagos, all from Redwood City — all suffered major but non-life-threatening injuries.

Israel Delgado, 39, of Santa Rosa, was the driver of the Mazda struck by Herrera’s vehicle. He reported minor injuries, the CHP said.

Delariva was held in the Sonoma County Jail Tuesday on $100,000 bail.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.