Driver who went into wrong lane dead after Friday crash in southwest Santa Rosa

A 51-year-old man died and a 37-year-old woman was hospitalized with serious injuries after a head-on vehicle crash Friday night in southwest Santa Rosa.

The crash occurred at 8:43 p.m. on Corporate Center Parkway, according to Santa Rosa police. The man, who was driving a red Jeep, had been driving south in northbound lanes of traffic and struck the woman’s white Ford SUV head on.

The man was pronounced dead at the crash site. The woman was hospitalized in “serious but stable” condition, according to authorities. Both drivers were alone in their vehicles.

Witnesses told police the man had been drinking alcohol in the parking lot of a convenience store before he drove into the wrong direction of traffic. Police said they found “evidence of alcohol consumption” in the area they were told the driver had been drinking before the crash.

Both were Santa Rosa residents, but police had not released either name and hadn’t yet reached the man’s family on Saturday morning.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88.