Head-On Hwy. 1 Crash Leads to Felony DUI, Hit-and-Run Arrest of Marin City Man

A Marin City man was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and hit-and-run after he allegedly fled the scene of a head-on crash in another vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Mario Renee Ramos-Sem, 22, was arrested at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday on the heels of a head-on crash that occurred nearly two hours earlier near Slide Ranch in Muir Beach, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said.

The incident occurred at 8:45 p.m. when a 1996 Jeep Cherokee traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of Hwy. 1 when it collided head on with a 1977 Toyota Corolla wagon traveling northbound in the northbound lane, Barclay said.

Witness reported that the driver of the Jeep, later identified as Ramos-Sem, got into another vehicle and fled the scene of the crash as the two occupants from the Toyota Corolla – 36-year-old Brandon Smith of Bolinas and an 11-year-old girl – remained in their car. Both Smith and the girl were treated at the scene by paramedics for cuts, bumps and bruises after the crash.

CHP alerted Marin County law enforcement agencies of the hit and run, and about an hour later, a CHP officer stopped the vehicle on Hwy. 1, detaining Ramos-Sem and bringing him back to the scene of the collision, where witnesses identified him as the driver of the Jeep, Barclay said.

Ramos-Sem was subsequently arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence of alcohol, felony DUI causing injury and felony hit and run causing injury. He was treated at a nearby hospital for minor injuries and was booked into Marin County Jail at around 12:40 a.m. Thursday.