71-year-old Santa Rosa woman arrested on suspicion of DUI after deadly crash

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- A 71-year-old woman was arrested Saturday on suspicion of DUI after the minivan she was driving struck a tree and a curb, leading to the death of her passenger, Santa Rosa police said.

The woman, identified as Darlene Ferris, a transient living in the Santa Rosa area, was in her minivan at about 3:30 p.m. in a parking lot in the 3600 block of Industrial Drive, said police Sgt. Dan Marincik. She was backing up in the lot, and hit both a curb and a tree at a high enough speed for her passenger-a 77-year-old man - to fall out of the minivan. The man was then run over by the minivan, Marincik said.

The man, whose name wasn't released this afternoon pending notification of family, died at a nearby hospital a short time later, Marincik said.

Ferris was booked into the Sonoma County Jail Saturday night on suspicion of DUI causing injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.