(AP)
SANTA ROSA (BCN)
A suspected drunken driver crashed near a Denny’s restaurant in Santa Rosa on Sunday morning, shattering several windows and injuring a patron who dove to the ground to get out of the way, a California Highway Patrol officer said.
Jessica Ilene McDonagh, a 21-year-old Santa Rosa resident, was speeding north on U.S. Highway 101 at about 90 mph in a 2005 Acura RL when the crash happened around 8:45 a.m., CHP Officer Marcus Hawkins said.
She exited at the Baker Avenue off-ramp without slowing down and veered across the nearby on-ramp, Hawkins said.
Her car struck four traffic signs and a concrete culvert, broke through a chain-link fence and struck a large landscaping rock before coming to rest near the entrance to the Denny’s on Baker Avenue, Hawkins said.
The car threw up debris including the large rock, which was about 2 feet across, causing several of the restaurant’s windows to shatter.
One diner suffered a wrist injury when she dove to the ground from her booth, Hawkins said.
McDonagh was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment, and was then arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and causing injury, Hawkins said.
McDonagh had been arrested for a previous DUI on Feb. 10 on the Baker Avenue overpass after she was seen speeding on Santa Rosa Avenue, according to the CHP. In both cases, she was driving the same car, which is registered to a family member.
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