Highway 101 crash in Santa Rosa injures two, driver flees

Speeding south on Highway 101 through Santa Rosa early Monday, a pickup driver lost control and crashed before running from the scene, leaving two injured people trapped in the overturned truck, according to the CHP.

CHP officers still are looking for the suspected hit-and-run driver, CHP Officer Steve Fricke said.

Initial reports indicated the suspected driver was seen jumping a fence in the area as emergency responders arrived to the 2:10 a.m. crash, just north of Todd Road.

Rincon Valley and Santa Rosa firefighters arrived to find the white, 2005 Dodge Ram pickup in a ditch, on its roof. The passenger section was severely crushed with two men injured and trapped inside and one side of the truck entangled in cyclone fencing from the impact.

Santa Rosa fire Battalion Chief Mark Basque said the slope of the ditch, the severity of the damage and the fencing complicated the extrication. Firefighters stabilized the vehicle with special equipment, cut away the doors and freed the men, one from the front passenger seat and one behind him. Basque said the effort took about 15 minutes.

Two Sonoma Life Support ambulances took passengers Christopher Amadio, 41, and Corey Peltz, 33, both of Santa Rosa, to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. They both had head, neck and face injuries and were in critical condition.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.