Santa Rosa police arrest driver suspected of deliberately hitting motorcyclist

Santa Rosa police arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder on Saturday morning after the man allegedly drove his car into a motorcyclist the night before.

James Hover, 32, of Santa Rosa was arrested at 10 a.m. Saturday by officers with the city’s downtown enforcement squad. Hover is accused of intentionally driving his car into a man sitting astride his motorcycle under a highway overpass that serves as as a gathering place for people who are homeless.

Officers were initially dispatched to the area of Morgan Street and the West 9th Street underpass early Friday morning for a hit and run, according to a Saturday police statement on the arrest. A driver thought to be Hover intentionally accelerated toward the motorcyclist and drove “into and through the victim and motorcycle,” according to the statement.

The vehicle was knocked around 30 feet away into a fence, according to police. The driver than sped away.

A hospital treated the victim for non-life threatening injuries, according to police. The victim, a 33-year old Santa Rosa resident, may have broken a bone in his leg, according to Santa Rosa Sgt. Chris Mahurin.

The two men knew each other and had some type of previous disagreement or conflict, Mahurin said. “We weren’t sure exactly what kind of issue it was,” he said, but officers suspect the conflict prompted Hover to drive his car into the victim. The motorcyclist himself wasn’t homeless, Mahurin said, but knew people under the overpass and had stopped to speak with them before Hover struck him with the car.

Police identified the driver as Hover over the next 24 hours, arrested him and located his vehicle. The police statement describes Hover as a homeless resident in Santa Rosa.

The inmate log for the Sonoma County Jail showed Hover was booked into detention at 12:40 p.m. on Sunday. He has a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

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