Mark Fitzgerald, 55, of Santa Rosa, was driving south in his Ford Explorer on Olivet Road around 5:50 a.m. when he struck one of two horses in the roadway. The horse rolled over the top of his sport utility vehicle, causing significant damage to the SUV, and then fell to the ground, the CHP reported.
About a minute later, the driver of a Honda Civic, Jacqueline Torres, 25, of Santa Rosa, swerved to the right to avoid hitting the horse but struck it with the left side of her vehicle, the CHP said.
The horse died and the second horse ran away, CHP officials said. The CHP and Sonoma County Animal Care and Control looked for the surviving horse but did not find it. Animal control personnel are trying to identify the owner of the horses, the CHP said.
