Two girls die in Petaluma car accident

TTwo young sisters died in a car accident Wednesday morning after the vehicle in which they were traveling rolled off an embankment and into the Petaluma River, according to the CHP.

Emergency responders attempted to resuscitate the two children, ages 7 and 9, around 8:25 a.m., approximately 10 minutes after the crash occurred on Petaluma Boulevard North at Gossage Avenue. At least one other driver and emergency personnel from Rancho Adobe Fire, Petaluma Fire and Petaluma Police Department went into the river to reach the girls, who had become trapped in the overturned vehicle, the CHP said.

Both children were transported from the scene in separate ambulances to Petaluma Valley Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, said Vanessa deGier, a spokesperson for St. Joseph Health, which operates the hospital.

The driver, Alejandra Hernandez, 26, of Rohnert Park, was the mother of the two children, said Edwin Gonzalez, her partner and the father of the children. Hernandez was returning from dropping Gonzalez off at his workplace, Petaluma’s Cal West Rentals.

Gonzalez said the children’s names were Sayra Gonzalez, 7, and Deliha Gonzalez, who was two weeks from her 10th birthday.

Hernandez was uninjured and remained at the scene after the accident. She was crying as she was consoled by family members.

Reached by phone, Gonzalez said he was in shock by the deaths of his two daughters, the only children he and Hernandez have.

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” he said. “I just don’t know at this point.”

According to CHP, Hernandez was headed toward Rohnert Park to take her daughters to school at Waldo Rohnert Elementary. The CHP said the car was in the fast lane and drifted left into the median, before the mother overcorrected. The white, Chevy Impala LS shot across the roadway and down a steep 20-foot embankment, crashing through heavy brush and oak trees before sliding into a narrow stretch of the river that runs along the boulevard just north of the outlet mall.

The car quickly sank in 6 feet of water and was fully submerged.

A CHP spokesman said a man driving behind the family witnessed the crash. He pulled over and scrambled down the embankment where he saw the mother standing on the car. According to Officer Jon Sloat, the man tried unsuccessfully to reach the two girls.

Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons said the department received a call about the crash at 8:11 a.m. and multiple units arrived by 8:14. By 8:25 the girls had been extricated by firefighters and were being given CPR.

At least one Petaluma police officer at the scene, wrapped in a blanket, was being consoled by a second officer.

The scene was littered with a car bumper stuck in heavy ivy on the side of the road. Scattered nearby was a dark blue and turquoise backpack with pink straps, a pink athletic shoe and a blue jacket.

Multiple fire department units and ambulances responded to the scene. Units from Petaluma Fire Department and Rancho Adobe Fire as well as Petaluma Police and CHP were on the scene.

The CHP is investigating the incident as a potential case of distracted driving, according to CHP Officer Eric Hill.

Northbound Petaluma Boulevard North between Sycamore and Skillman was closed for several hours, and the southbound lanes of Petaluma Boulevard North were congested during the morning commute.

The incident mirrors last week’s deadly crash into the Russian River in Jenner, which claimed the lives of two young sisters. Their mother had been driving them to school when she lost control and crashed into the water. She was able to escape.

Some of the responders Wednesday also were at last week’s crash.

“The fact that we’ve had two of these in several days, it’s weighing heavily on a lot of people right now. I have not seen anything like this in Sonoma County since I’ve been here” the past 16 years, Sloat said.

(Press Democrat staff writers J.D. Morris and Randi Rossmann contributed to this report. Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)