SONOMA COUNTY (BCN) — A 55-year-old Richmond resident died Thursday in a suspected DUI collision in Sonoma County near Salt Point State Park, California Highway Patrol officials said.
Jeffrey Simon died in the collision at about 2:10 p.m. on state Highway 1.
Simon was driving a 1994 Toyota pickup south on Highway 1 when 31-year-old Vallejo resident Kyle Ferguson failed to negotiate curve as he was driving north in a blue 2001 Ford Crown Victoria.
The Ford hit the left side of the Toyota killing Simon.
CHP officials originally reported Ferguson’s vehicle was a Buick and that the two vehicles hit head on.
Ferguson was driving at an unsafe speed of 35 mph, according to CHP officials.
Simon’s wife was uninjured as was a passenger in Ferguson’s vehicle.
Responding officers allege that Ferguson was driving under the influence of alcohol and arrested him, CHP officials said.
Officers booked Ferguson into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of manslaughter.
CHP officials said the death is the first fatality in the jurisdiction of the CHP Santa Rosa area office.
The crash blocked both directions of Highway 1. The Timber Cove Fire Protection District responded to the collision, CHP officials said.