Suspected DUI Driver Crashes Into Rohnert Park Home, Cops Say

ROHNERT PARK, CA — Police in Rohnert Park arrested a man Saturday in connection with driving under the influence and resisting then felony evading an officer. Around 10:25 p.m., an officer was walking into a gas station at 5060 Redwood Drive when he noticed a silver Volvo with no license plates.

When he came back out of the store, he saw the car now had out-of-state license plates, according to a news release from Commander Aaron Johnson of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.

When the officers went to talk to the people in the car, the driver, later identified as 40-year-old George Lawton of Cloverdale, suddenly drove off and left behind one of the passengers, Johnson said.

Fifteen minutes later, a K-9 officer found the Volvo on 4990 Commerce Blvd. Lawton fled again as the officer tried to approach him, Johnson said.

After a brief two-minute, 100-MPH car chase down Redwood Drive and Milbrae Avenue, the Volvo tried to make a turn and went through a fence, police said.

Airborne, the car flew into a large trailer that was parked in front of a house. The trailer crashed into the house, Johnson said.

Lawton became trapped inside the car, suffering minor injuries, the commander said.

Once extricated from the Volvo, Lawton was taken to by ambulance to a hospital.

Officers said he smelled of alcohol and looked to be under the influence.

After being medically cleared by a doctor, Lawton continued to fight the officers in the hospital parking lot, Johnson said.

"Lawton had to be placed in a restraint to keep him from injuring himself or anyone else, and then he was taken to the county jail ... " Johnson said. "It is unknown what Lawton’s blood-alcohol level was or what else he was under the influence of pending analysis."

Rohnert Park DPS determined the car was not stolen.

By Bay City News Service; Patch local editor Maggie Avants contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety