Rio Nido woman stabbed boyfriend before they were in car crash on way to Santa Rosa hospital

A Rio Nido woman stabbed her boyfriend, then the couple and a friend suspected of driving while intoxicated crashed last week on the way to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, according to new information released Friday by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, ?911 dispatchers received a call from a person who promptly hung up, the Sheriff’s Office said in a prepared statement. Dispatchers determined the call was placed from a residence in the 15000 block of Rio Nido Road. When deputies arrived at the home, they found no one inside, but blood drops throughout the home.

As two deputies searched the home, a third deputy came across a crashed Acura SUV nearby on River Road near Woolsey Road. Two people were ejected from the vehicle and a third trapped inside.

Investigating the incident, deputies learned that Jennifer Skelton, 43, who lived at the Rio Nido home, had stabbed her boyfriend at least once in the chest with a serrated kitchen knife, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The boyfriend’s name was withheld by authorities because he was a victim of domestic violence.

The stabbing woke up Heidi Allen, 43, a Guerneville woman who was intoxicated and asleep in the home, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Allen decided to drive the victim and Skelton to the hospital. Allen crashed a short way up the road, flipping her SUV and ejecting Skelton and her boyfriend, who were not wearing seatbelts, the Sheriff’s Office said. All three were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial.

CHP is charging Allen with felony DUI, and Skelton will be arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon as soon as she leaves the hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Beale at 707-521-5205 or andrew.beale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @iambeale.