Injured motorcyclist dragged 2 miles; Santa Rosa man arrested in hit-and-run

SANTA ROSA -- A 37-year-old Santa Rosa man has been arrested in a hit-and-run crash where an injured motorcyclist was dragged for two miles.

Santa Rosa police said Charles A. Bernhardy was being held on suspicion of multiple felonies including hit-and-run and driving under the influence with an enhancement for causing great bodily injury.

Meanwhile, the injured motorcyclist -- a  23-year-old Santa Rosa man -- was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries at a local hospital.

Investigators said officers responded to reports of a crash at 8:54 p.m. Tuesday in the intersection of Fountaingrove Parkway and Sedgemoore Drive near Rincon Ridge Park in the city's north end.

Upon arrival, the officers found the injured motorcyclist but not his motorcycle. They determined that the collision had actually occurred east of the intersection, when the truck rear-ended the motorcycle on westbound Fountaingrove Parkway.  

With the motorcycle attached to the truck, police said Bernhardy continued driving westbound on Fountaingrove and rear-ended a Honda Accord attempting to make a right turn onto Sedgemoore Drive.

Bernhardy then allegedly continued driving westbound on Fountaingrove while still dragging the motorcycle, which was later found two miles west of the intersection in the roadway's center median.

Police believe Bernhardy drove his truck into the center median, hit a tree and a pole, then drove westbound in the eastbound lanes of Fountaingrove, before driving over the median again and continuing westbound in the westbound lanes.  

Officers found the truck abandoned in the intersection of Fountaingrove and Mendocino Avenue. They went to the address on the truck's registration in the 700 block of Benicia Drive, but Bernhardy was not home.

The next morning, at 8:41 a.m. returned to the address and found and arrested Bernhardy.