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

A rollover crash on Highway 101 Monday night in Petaluma that left one passenger with life-threatening injuries was caused by a drunken driver who Tuesday was in custody, according to the Highway Patrol.

Officers arrested driver Yessenia Gomez, 19, of Santa Rosa on suspicion of felony drunken driving, causing major injuries.

She was driving north on the highway at about 7:30 p.m. near Corona Road when the 2002 Honda Civic rolled at least once and landed on its wheels on the highway, 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 and he was determined to have multiple critical injuries.

Seated in the front passenger seat was Alex Nunez, 16, of Windsor. Nunez 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.

The driver had minor injuries. She was arrested at the hospital.

She remained in the Sonoma County Jail 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.