Santa Rosa man found guilty of 2022 fatal DUI collision that killed motorcyclist
A man was found guilty of murder Thursday in connection with a 2022 DUI vehicle collision he was involved in resulted in the death of a motorcyclist, Santa Rosa police said.
Charles Allen Bernhardy was convicted by a Sonoma County Superior Court jury of second-degree murder for the death of then 23-year-old Vance Stammer.
Bernhardy was also found guilty of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated with the enhancement of personally inflicting great bodily injury, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, hit-and-run causing death and a misdemeanor hit-and-run.
According to police, officers responded to a hit-and-run collision near the intersection of Fountaingrove Parkway and Sedgemoore Drive in Santa Rosa on Sept. 6, 2022. Upon arrival, officers found a motorcycle and a severely injured man at the scene.
The man, later identified as Stammer, was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Several weeks after the collision, Stammer was taken off life support.
An investigation determined that Stammer was riding his motorcycle west on Fountaingrove Parkway when a Chevrolet pickup truck rear-ended him. Stammer was thrown from his motorcycle, and his helmet was knocked off.
The pickup truck kept driving and proceeded to rear-end a second vehicle, a Honda, as it turned right. The truck did not stop. Eventually, the truck broke down on Mendocino Avenue, almost 3 miles west of the first collision with the motorcycle. The driver fled from the truck and police officers did not initially locate him.
The driver was eventually identified with the help of witnesses as Bernhardy, police said. Witnesses also said Bernhardy was intoxicated and fled the scene.
