CHP officers rescued a drunk driver from his burning car after a DUI crash on Highway 29 near Napa.
DUI crash: California Highway Patrol officers rescued a drunk driver from his burning car Sunday morning after he caused an accident that seriously injured another driver on Highway 29 near Napa.
• A 19-year-old drunk driver was driving on HIghway 29 at high speed when he crashed into a pickup truck in front of him.
• The driver of the truck was hospitalized with serious injuries he suffered in the DUI crash.
• The drunk driver was trapped inside his car when it burst into flames. He was rescued by two CHP officers and a good Samaritan.
• The drunk driver was arrested and hospitalized.
The fiery highway crash occurred at 1:02 a.m., just south of Highway 221 in American Canyon (about 10 miles south of Napa), according to a report in the Napa Valley Register.
The CHP said 31-year-old Vallejo resident Manuel Baltazar was driving a 1994 Dodge pickup southbound on Highway 29 at 55 mph when a speeding car driven by an underage drunk driver slammed into him from behind.
The impact caused the pickup truck to spin across two lanes before it stopped on the shoulder, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reported.
Baltazar suffered serious injuries in the DUI crash and was taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa to be treated.
Meanwhile, the 2000 Honda sedan, driven by 19-year-old Abraham Sanchez of Napa, crashed into the center guardrail, went over it, and slammed into a large metal sign. The car caught fire. Sanchez was trapped inside.
Several motorists stopped to help, but the smashed doors were jammed shut. CHP Officer Myron Wilson grabbed a fire extinguisher from his car and knocked back some of the flames, while Officer Randy Siemens broke the left rear passenger window.
As the two officers began trying to pull the pinned man out, the flames shot back up and engulfed the car. One of the motorists who had stopped to help joined the two officers and the three men were able to get Sanchez out of the car through the broken window.
The officers arrested Sanchez on charges of drunk driving and causing injury to another person. He was then taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital to be treated for major injuries he sustained in the DUI crash.
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