CHP: Cazadero man causes crash and flees, leaving injured children, their mother behind

CHP officers said they are searching for a Cazadero man who crashed head-on into a pickup and fled Sunday evening, leaving behind his injured children and their mother.

The woman and three children were taken by ambulances to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital after the 6:10 p.m. crash on Highway 116 west of Monte Rio, CHP Officer David deRutte said Monday.

The driver, identified by the CHP as Monte Rio Wood, 36, was heading west on the rural highway near Monte Cristo Avenue when he came upon a stopped vehicle trying to turn left. Wood crossed into the eastbound lane to get around the vehicle, but then ran into an oncoming Ford F-450 pickup, deRutte said.

Wood’s 1996 Honda Accord was destroyed from severe front end damage. He ran, abandoning his passengers who appeared to have suffered minor and moderate injuries, deRutte said. The pickup driver, identified as Brian Phillips, 47, of San Diego, wasn’t injured.

“The (Honda) driver got out and left the woman and three kids along the road, all hurt,” Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman said. “We got there, and they were sitting on the ground.”

CHP identified the 30-year-old injured woman as Briana Schofield of Cazadero. The children involved in the crash were an 8-month-old girl and 6- and 10-year-old boys. A search for the driver was unsuccessful but continued Monday.