CHP: Petaluma man drove drunk to CHP office to report crash

A Petaluma man was arrested on suspicion of DUI Tuesday morning after he walked into the lobby of the Marin County CHP office to report a crash he had been involved in over the weekend.

The man, Donald Gendron, 44, was waiting in the front lobby when numerous officers noticed the “overwhelming odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the front of the office,” a news release said.

When Gendron began talking to an officer about what had happened during the crash over the weekend, that officer decided it was, in fact, Gendron who smelled like alcohol, police said. Gendron’s eyes were red and watery, and he “displayed other signs of intoxication,” police reported. Gendron told an officer he had driven to the CHP office on his own, arriving at about 9:15 a.m. Security camera footage from outside the office confirmed his account, the news release said.

Gendron was arrested after he failed a sobriety test and booked into Marin County Jail.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.