A police pursuit began early Sunday, September 15, 2019 when it is alleged Eric Van Gelder of Geyserville, Calif. failed to stop, drove past a closed road break, nearly hit a California Highway Patrol officer and led them on a chase exceeding 100 mph. A long standoff took place after a spike strip disabled Van Gelder's vehicle. A SWAT team later removed him from the car using "non-lethal methods."
A person was found dead Wednesday in a car that had gone down an embankment from state Highway 1 along the Sonoma Coast, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officers responded at 3:58 p.m. Wednesday to the area of Highway 1 south of Fort Ross Road after a passerby reported a vehicle on its roof down an embankment.
Authorities arrived to find a Volkswagen Golf about 100 feet down the embankment and went down it to find a male occupant inside who was pronounced dead at the scene, CHP officials said.
The vehicle was cold to the touch, and investigators do not know exactly when the crash occurred, but believe it had been traveling south on Highway 1 when for some reason it went off the roadway to the right and traveled down the embankment, according to the CHP.
The name of the driver who died was not immediately available from the Sonoma County coroner’s office.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the CHP’s Santa Rosa-area office at (707) 588-1400.
Last modified February 25, 2021 2:01 pm
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