Santa Rosa Man Charged With Second-Degree Murder In High-Speed Crash That Killed Two
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A 19-year-old Santa Rosa man has been charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly was driving at speeds near 100 mph when his vehicle slammed head-on into another car in a horrific July crash that claimed two lives, Santa Rosa police announced Monday.
According to police, Jose Bernardo Gutierrez -- who was arrested on Friday -- was being held without bail on second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving charges in the crash that claimed the lives of two people in the other vehicle.
Since the July 12 crash, investigators have determined that Gutierrez had been driving in speeds in excess of 95-100 miles per hour, drove through a red light and at one point turned his headlights off before the accident. Gutierrez also had a 17-year-old passenger in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
The investigation revealed that Gutierrez had been stopped and cited, within the past year, for driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour and warned about the dangers of reckless driving.
The incident took place in the early morning hours. Santa Rosa police got a 911 call reporting a traffic collision with injuries in area of Stony Point Road near Trombetta Street.
When Officers arrived on-scene the found two vehicles were involved in the collision. The vehicles were a silver BMW and silver Cadillac CTS.
Two adult males in the Cadillac CTS were declared dead at the scene. Gutierrez and his passenger were transported to the hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
