The California Highway Patrol was awfully busy dealing with crashes involving suspected drunken drivers last weekend. Two out of five incidents between Friday night and Sunday took place in Novato.
On Friday night, a Santa Rosa man with a prior DUI conviction was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after a crash on northbound Highway 101 just north of the Rowland overpass, according to CHP Officer Eric Hohmeister. Russell Howard, 63, failed to react to slow traffic at 6:05 p.m. and his pickup truck rear-ended another pickup, which then catapulted forward into a Jeep Cherokee.
All three vehicles were driven to the highway shoulder, where CHP officers determined that Howard was under the influence of alcohol. He was booked at Marin County Jail on two misdemeanors.
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Nobody was injured in the crash.
At 2:58 p.m. Saturday, a 48-year-old Novato woman was crunched on Highway 101 by a driver who was later booked on suspicion of DUI.
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The driver, identified as Adam Ensminger of Petaluma, lost control of his 2000 Chrysler Grand Voyager minivan while southbound in the middle lane of 101 and drifted into the slow lane. The right front corner of his van clipped the left rear corner of Jolene Grannis' 2004 Lexus sedan. Both vehicles reached the highway shoulder just north of the Highway 37 interchange and neither occupant was hurt.
CHP officers placed Ensminger under arrest after hearing witnesses report he was acting strangely and exhibiting signs of drug use. He admitted to using methadone and marijuana and booked him on a misdemeanor DUI count at Marin County Jail.
Another crash, this one in San Rafael, resulted in a physical altercation between drivers. For that story, check out San Rafael Patch.
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