San Francisco

Sonoma County Man Charged With DUI After Police Standoff on Hwy. 101

Highway 101 in Santa Rosa reopened several hours after a pursuit turned into a police standoff early Sunday morning. 

At 6:22 a.m., Santa Rosa California Highway Patrol was along southbound US-101 in Geyserville when a white Honda Civic refused to stop and drove around a closure. The vehicle then struck a motorcycle officer, and a pursuit ensued, CHP Santa Rosa said.

The vehicle sped and drove away going more than 100 mph on the highway, and it finally came to a stop after a Sonoma sheriff used a spike strip at Shiloh Road to stop the vehicle.

For safety reasons, the CHP decided to shut down both directions of the freeway.

The pursuit was followed by a police standoff after the driver, identified as Eric Van Gelder, refused to exit his vehicle. 

After a failed attempt at negotiations, SWAT teams arrived to the scene to assist, CHP said. 

SWAT officers used non-lethal options to remove Van Gelder from his vehicle. 

According to Santa Rosa CHP, US-101 northbound reopened at 9:18 a.m. and US-101 southbound was reopened at 9:31 a.m.

Van Gelder was charged with evading police, DUI, and delaying and resisting arrest. 

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