Motorcyclist seriously injured after driving off road near Petaluma ID’d

The man who was seriously injured Saturday evening after he ran his motorcycle off a southwest Sonoma County road was identified Monday as a 25-year-old Petaluma resident.

Douglas Lindt was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries, CHP spokesman Officer David deRutte said. Lindt was riding his Honda motorcycle east on Valley Ford Road, east of Jones Road, when he lost control as he approached a left curve, CHP said in a news release. He drove off the road and struck a barbed wire fence.

Officials are still trying to determine what caused the crash, deRutte said. Witnesses reported that Lindt and another motorcyclist riding with him at the time were both traveling fast, which is something officials are investigating, in addition to whether drugs or alcohol were factors.

While officers were at the crash site Saturday, Lindt’s friend, identified as 42-year-old Rocky Clark of Petaluma, rode his motorcycle to the area and spoke with officers. Clark said he had been riding with Lindt, but didn’t see the collision. As an officer spoke with Clark, he noticed “signs and symptoms of intoxication,” and Clark was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, the news release said.

“It really didn’t have anything to do with the crash, as far as we know,” deRutte said of Clark’s arrest. “They are kind of separate, other than they were riding together.”

Anyone with information about it is asked to call CHP at 707-588-1400.

You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ChantelleHLee.