Fox affiliate KTVU reports that a Santa Rosa man has been arrested on the charge of felony DUI hit-and-run after he allegedly hit and critically injured a motorcyclist on Tuesday night.
A spokesperson for the Santa Rosa Police Department said in a statement that following an investigation of the crash scene Charles A. Bernhardy, 37, was arrested early Wednesday, September 8.
The collision happened at approximately 8:54 p.m. at the intersection of Fountaingrove Parkway and Segemore Drive when Bernhardy allegedly rear-ended a motorcycle with his tan Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, causing the biker to be ejected from his vehicle.
Eyewitnesses told police that the truck made no attempt to stop and hit a Honda Accord as he attempted to flee the scene. Bernhardy continued driving, dragging the motorcycle beneath his truck.
Police and paramedics responding to the scene found the biker, a 23-year-old man also from Santa Rosa, lying in the roadway. The biker was rushed to an area hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries he suffered in the crash. Doctors say he is currently in critical condition.
Police investigators found the motorcycle approximately 2 miles from the crash site lying in the center median. Bernhardy also appears to have hit a tree and a pole before driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Fountaingrove Parkway.
Officers later found the Chevy Truck abandoned near Fountaingrove and Mendocino Avenue intersection. Police located Bernhardy at his home and took him into custody.
Bernhardy was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on the charges of DUI causing injury, hit-and-run, and a misdemeanor charge in connection to hitting the Honda Accord. Bernhardy will also face a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury.
