Petaluma driver suspected of DUI after car hits tree, flips

A female passenger suffered moderate injuries in the Saturday crash.|
ROBERT DIGITALE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A 21-year-old Petaluma man was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of felony DUI and causing injury to another person after his vehicle crashed into a tree and flipped on its side in southeast Petaluma.

Marc Morales-Velarde was booked into Sonoma County Jail, according to a Petaluma police press release. Bail was set at $100,000.

The crash occurred shortly before 5 a.m. on the 2000 block of Falcon Ridge Drive near the Adobe Creek Golf and Country Club. When officers arrived, Morales-Velarde was trying to free a female passenger who had suffered moderate injuries in the crash.

The officer detected the odor of alcohol on Morales-Velarde. He submitted to what police described to a field test which showed his blood alcohol content to be 0.16, or double the legal limit.

The injured woman was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Her condition was unknown, police reported.

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