A Woodland man faces felony drunken-driving charges after allegedly causing a vehicle crash in Winters that critically injured his passenger, Police Chief John Miller said.
According to a news release, a Yolo County sheriff’s deputy assisting local police with Winters’ Youth Day festival was notified at about 8:40 p.m. of the solo collision at the intersection of Railroad and Grant Avenues.
“Upon arrival, the deputy found a Ford 150 truck with major damage to the passenger side of the vehicle and a female passenger suffering from major injuries trapped in the backseat,” Miller said. “The driver was outside the vehicle and appeared to be intoxicated.”
Witnesses told investigating officers that the truck had been traveling southbound on Railroad Avenue at speeds over 70 mph, ran a red light at the intersection and sideswiped a light pole, which sheared off the passenger side of the vehicle.
Winters Fire Department personnel extricated the injured female passenger from the wreckage before she was transported to Kaiser Vacaville with what Miller described as “life-threatening injuries.” The driver, identified as 30-year-old Nicholas Kershner, was arrested for felony DUI.
Kershner was transported with minor injuries to Kaiser Vacaville, where Miller said he refused to have a blood sample drawn, requiring investigators to obtain a warrant in order to get the sample.
The Davis Police Department assisted in the investigation, documenting the crash scene using a “Total Station,” a digital surveying device used in traffic collision reconstruction, Miller said.