Petaluma man once more suspected of DUI

A man on probation for a previous drunken-driving conviction was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of once more driving under the influence after he rear-ended a stopped car in Petaluma.

Carlos Sebastian Arana-Reyes, 40, of Petaluma, first attracted attention about 8:25 p.m. Wednesday when his vehicle remained stopped after a traffic signal turned green at East Washington and Payran streets.

“Witnesses observed that Arana-Reyes appeared to be passed out behind the wheel,” according to a press release issued Thursday by Petaluma Police Sgt. Rick Cox.

A bystander approached the car, Arana-Reyes woke up and resumed driving west on East Washington. Cars before him stopped for a red light at the intersection with Petaluma Boulevard North, but “Arana-Reyes did not slow for the stopped traffic,” Cox wrote. Instead, his vehicle struck the one in front of him, which then collided with another.

A 13-year-old child in the vehicle Arana-Reyes struck suffered minor injuries and was taken to Petaluma Valley Hospital for treatment, Cox wrote.

When police officers arrived, they “could smell the odor of alcohol” on Arana-Reyes’ breath, Cox wrote. They arrested him on suspicion of operating his vehicle while intoxicated. He submitted to a blood-alcohol test, for which the results weren’t immediately available.

After determining that Arana-Reyes was on probation for a previous DUI conviction, Cox wrote, officers booked him into the Sonoma County Jail on $100,000 bail.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit