CHP: Medical emergency may have caused fatal Santa Rosa crash

A Los Angeles man who died in a single-car crash in north Santa Rosa on Sunday evening may have been experiencing a medical emergency that caused him to veer off Highway 101, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The driver was identified Michael Sherman, 73, of Los Angeles, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office said Monday afternoon.

Sherman’s 2016 Hyundai Sonata sustained limited damage to the front bumper, indicating it was unlikely he was killed by the impact of the crash, according to the CHP. His airbags did not deploy.

“The vehicle for unknown reasons just ran off the road,” CHP Sgt. Mary Ziegenbein said. “The damage the vehicle sustained was very minimal.”

The car drifted right off the highway and plowed through a chain link fence before it eventually came to rest in a ditch next to the Kaiser Permanente parking lot off Mendocino Avenue, according to the CHP. Authorities responded at about 5:11 p.m.

No other vehicles were involved, said CHP Officer David deRutte.

The first officer on the scene broke the front passenger window to help Sherman, who was unresponsive when first responders arrived. Paramedics took him to Kaiser’s Santa Rosa Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the CHP said.

Details about the medical emergency that may have caused the crash and possibly resulted in Sherman’s death have not been disclosed, pending the results of the coroner’s investigation.

Investigators asked anyone with information to contact the Santa Rosa California Highway Patrol office at 707-588-1400.

You can reach Staff Writer Yousef Baig at 707-521-5390 or yousef.baig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @YousefBaig.