Driver kills woman, injures others in road-rage crash, California cops say

A woman died after California Highway Patrol officers said another driver knocked her vehicle into oncoming traffic in a road-rage dispute, news outlets report.

The fatal crash took place on Stony Point Road near Rohnert Park Expressway in Santa Rosa at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, the agency said in a news release.

The driver of a Mazda rammed the back of a Volkswagen repeatedly, causing it to veer into oncoming traffic, officers said.

An uninvolved Mercedes struck the Volkswagen, killing a woman in the passenger seat and injuring a man and child also in the vehicle, officers said and KPIX reported. The driver and passenger in the Mercedes also were taken to a hospital with major injuries.

The crash closed Stony Point Road at Rohnert Park Expressway, The Press Democrat reported.

The Mazda driver fled and later rammed a second vehicle, disabling the Mazda. The driver tried to flee but was arrested on charges including murder, DUI and assault with a deadly weapon.

Investigators learned the driver was involved in an earlier road-rage crash, and police in Cotati are investigating two other incidents that may be connected, the CHP said.

The CHP did not release the identity of the woman killed in the crash or the Mazda driver, officers said.

Santa Rosa is a 55-mile drive northwest from San Francisco.

This story was originally published October 6, 2024 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Driver kills woman, injures others in road-rage crash, California cops say."