Petaluma man arrested in crash that impaled woman

A 20-year-old Petaluma man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of drunken driving and hit-and-run following a vehicle crash in which the passenger in his car was impaled by a metal fence railing earlier that day near Petaluma.

Alan Ramirez was apprehended by the CHP several hours after the crash along Skillman Lane following a resident’s report he had knocked on the door and asked if he could call a taxi, Officer Jon Sloat said.

The man, later identified as Ramirez, appeared “disheveled,” and the resident, who was aware of the crash, became suspicious and called the CHP, Sloat said.

The crash victim, whose body was pierced by the metal pole than ran through the car, was identified Sunday as Miriam Martinez, 20, of Petaluma. She remained in critical condition at Stanford Medical Center, where she was flown Saturday from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, CHP Sgt. Jason Bahlman said.

The driver of the car, a black Honda Civic, fled the scene of the crash about 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the 3200 block of Skillman Lane, fire and law enforcement officials said Saturday. He was tentatively identified as a friend of the victim.

The relationship between Ramirez and Martinez was not known, Sloat said Sunday.

Ramirez was being held without bail Sunday at the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of felony DUI resulting in bodily injury and felony hit-and-run involving injury or death.

Those charges carry $100,000 bail, but Ramirez was held without bail because he was on felony probation for possession of a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor DUI, a jail official said.

The Honda appeared to have flipped onto its roof and slid into an iron pipe fence along Skillman Lane, firefighters said Saturday.

A long metal rail from the fence pierced the front of the car and ran through the woman in the front passenger seat. The rail went through her body and extended well beyond the other side of the car.

The woman was conscious when rescue crews arrived, and it took about 12 minutes to cut the pipe and free the woman, who was flown to the hospital with a portion of the pole in her body.