NAPA COUNTY, CA — An arrest was made in a fatal solo-vehicle crash early Sunday morning in an unincorporated area of Napa County, the California Highway Patrol said.
Officers with CHP Napa Area were dispatched around 5:50 a.m. Sunday to a crash involving only a GMC Yukon SUV in the vicinity of state Highway 128/Sage Canyon Road and Lower Chiles Valley Road, according to Officer Jaret Paulson, spokesperson for the CHP Napa.
It was later determined the crash happened earlier Sunday morning as the GMC was traveling eastbound on SR-128, approaching Lower Chiles Valley Road, at a left curve in the road, Paulson said.
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“The driver was unable to manipulate the curve in the road and allowed the GMC to leave the roadway,” Paulson said. “The GMC crashed down an embankment causing it to overturn several times.”
As a result of the crash, the passenger suffered fatal injuries.
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The driver, identified as 54-year-old Stephen Carter Patterson, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI, Paulson said.
The Napa County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office is expected to release the passenger’s name once the next of kin has been properly notified.
The investigation remains open and ongoing, Paulson said late Sunday night.
Patterson remained in custody Monday morning at the Napa County jail with his bail set at $100,000, a booking report showed.
Paulson encouraged anyone who may have any information helpful to the investigation to call the CHP’s Napa office at 707-699-6300 and ask for Officer S. Herrera.
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