Suspected drunken driver, 19, arrested in Petaluma rollover crash on Highway 101

CHP officers arrested a Santa Rosa woman Monday night on suspicion of drunken driving following a crash on Highway 101 in Petaluma that left her two passengers with critical injuries, officials said.

Yessenia Gomez, 19, was headed north on the highway at about 7:30 p.m. near Corona Road when the 2002 Honda Civic she was driving rolled at least once and landed on its wheels, the CHP said.

Passenger Erasmo Lugo-?Garcia, 18, of Santa Rosa was thrown from the backseat out a back window. Petaluma firefighters found him unconscious with multiple critical injuries.

Alex Nunez, 16, of Windsor, seated in the front passenger seat, was conscious and talking to firefighters. But then his health rapidly deteriorated and he temporarily stopped breathing, according to initial reports. He’d suffered a head injury and was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, along with Lugo-Garcia and Gomez.

Gomez had minor injuries and was arrested at the hospital.

Booked on felony drunken driving and causing major injuries, Gomez remained in Sonoma County Jail on Tuesday with bail set at $100,000.

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