Vallejo man jailed after fatal Sonoma Coast crash

A suspected drunken driver from Vallejo was being held Friday on $1 million bail at the Sonoma County Jail following a head-on crash that killed a Richmond man on the Sonoma Coast, CHP officials said.

Kyle Ferguson, 31, was booked on suspicion of felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony DUI with a blood-alcohol level greater than 0.08 percent and misdemeanor driving without a valid license, jail records show.

Authorities Friday identified the driver killed as Jeffrey Simon, 55, of Richmond, who also owns a home in the nearby Sea Ranch community.

The collision occurred at about 2 p.m. Thursday on Highway 1 near Salt Point State Park.

CHP Officer Jon Sloat said Ferguson entered a curve too fast in a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria heading north on the coastal highway.

Ferguson was unable to negotiate the curve, crossed over the double-yellow lines and struck the left side of Simon’s 1994 Toyota pickup, Sloat said.

His estimated speed was 35 mph.

Simon was fatally injured by the impact, but his passenger and wife, Tracy Takahashi, 55, was uninjured, Sloat said. Ferguson’s passenger, Jessy Mahoney, 29, of Vallejo also was uninjured.

Ferguson was arrested at the site of the crash after officers determined he appeared impaired.

He was taken to the CHP’s office in Rohnert Park and interviewed before he was booked into the jail.

Ferguson is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. on Monday in Sonoma County Superior Court department 9.

Sloat said the crash caused the first traffic fatality in 2016 in the CHP’s Santa Rosa area.