The woman who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and injuring another person when her car crashed into a Santa Rosa home early Saturday is the wife of the Sonoma County Sheriff, the sheriff said on social media Saturday afternoon.
Natasha Whittinghill, 47, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI after her car apparently left the roadway, slammed into a fence, hit a tree and plowed into a Santa Rosa residence in the 5200 block of Beaumont Way Saturday around 12:51 a.m., according to Santa Rosa Police.
Lieutenant Christopher Mahurin with Santa Rosa Police told NBC Bay Area that when officers arrived at the scene, they found Whittinghill outside of her vehicle and "noted objective signs of possible intoxication."
"They began to communicate with her, do some field sobriety tests and ultimately determined that she was under the influence and arrested her," Mahurin said.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"Last night my wife was involved in a DUI crash. Her car hit a house, causing damage, and the one person inside the home was injured. As was appropriate, she was arrested and is facing DUI-related charges in the incident being handled by the Santa Rosa Police Department," Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram said in a statement on Facebook Saturday.
Engram, the county's top law enforcement official, was elected in June 2022.
"As a husband, I am greatly concerned about my wife's well-being. As a citizen and Sheriff, I am also concerned about the well-being of the person inside the home who suffered injuries," Engram said.
In his post, the sheriff said he wanted the community to hear the news from him first, because as sheriff, "I always aim to be open and honest with the community I proudly serve. And that's what leads me to share with you this message, as personal and as painful as it is for our family."
Neighbors in the area say the grey Tesla was going from Montecito Boulevard, across the intersection with Calistoga Road, and up towards Beaumont Way when it hurtled up onto the sidewalk, clipping trees and shoving bushes across the yard, and launching into the wall of the house.
Santa Rosa Police say they received several calls about a vehicle driving into a home in the 5200 block of Beaumont Way around 12:51 a.m., according to a news release issued by the Santa Rosa Police Department around 2:47 p.m. Saturday.
One of the homeowners also called police, saying a grey Tesla drove into the front of their home, police said. One of the residents, a woman in her 50s, suffered minor injuries from shards of glass and was taken to the hospital for treatment, according to police.
Police identified the suspect as Whittinghill.
Based on a DUI investigation, evidence on scene, and the injury to a resident police describe as being a result of the collision, Whittinghill was arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of felony DUI that caused injury, police said. Santa Rosa Police said Whittinghill had been booked with a bail of $100,000 and had posted bail Saturday.
Additionally, Santa Rosa Police said that at this time it does not appear that any mechanical or operational issues with the car contributed to this crash.
Santa Rosa Police said they did a chemical test on Whittinghill which will be sent off to a lab. Depending on what the results reveal about her blood alcohol level, Whittinghill could face enhancements to her charges, police said.
"I understand that our community will have more questions and want answers. So do I. However, because this incident is being investigated by Santa Rosa, in order to avoid any potential conflict of interest, Santa Rosa Police Department will be handing media inquiries," Engram said in his post.
Lorie and Mark Johnson of Santa Rosa live in the home on Beaumont Way where the car crashed. At the time of the crash, Lorie Johnson said she was sitting in her recliner with her dog, watching TV.
“I heard the revving of the engine first, then I heard no breaks, and then I heard this crackle," Lori Johnson recalled.
She said the grey Tesla hurtled into the corner of the room she was sitting in, pushing furniture, glass, and a TV set towards her.
Lorie Johnson said it felt like "like an earthquake with concrete [was] coming down."
"The two-by-fours were laying on the side of me with nails, I had debris in my hair, I had sheet rock," she recalled, saying she immediately went into shock.
"[The driver] was airborne, she [was] airborne and it was stuck, and I saw her lights, I saw her blinkers and I heard her," Lorie Johnson recalled.
The crash woke up Mark Johnson who was asleep in the home at the time.
"I hear her screaming-- the love of my life," he recalled, tearing up as he remembered what happened, "it was just traumatic, I’m a big baby when it comes to this kind of stuff."
Lorie Johnson was taken to the hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises she sustained during the crash. She was able to return home Saturday morning.
The Johnson's were able to watch video of the crash captured on surveillance cameras.
"I think the worst part was to see the video because I am very lucky, if you see the inside of my house, I’m very lucky," Lorie Johnson said.
"[The driver] never stopped, she never stopped, there were no breaks," she said.
She added that she and her husband didn't find out until midday Saturday that the driver was the sheriff's wife.
That realization, Johnson said, "that was pretty hard."
The Johnsons said after this incident, they are thinking they want to move out of their current home.
Lieutenant Christopher Mahurin of Santa Rosa Police said of this incident, "we have a zero tolerance [policy] especially when it comes to DUI collisions and we just followed that all the way through, we want to make sure there’s no special treatment no matter who the individual is. “
Mahurin said that in Santa Rosa, DUI's are fairly common, in fact the department just carried out a DUI checkpoint on Friday night. However, Mahurin said that DUI's involving a collision into a building are not common.
