Woman Stargazing With Friend, Arrested For Suspected DUI In North Bay

NORTH BAY, CA – A Novato woman who was watching a meteor shower with her friend was arrested on suspicion of DUI after she drove her vehicle off a road near Novato early this morning, the California Highway Patrol said.

Novato residents Ashleigh Courtney, 28, and her passenger, a 30-year-old man, were returning to Novato around 1:45 a.m. after watching the Perseid meteor shower in west Marin County past Stafford Lake, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said.

Courtney allowed her 2003 BMW X5 vehicle to travel off Novato Boulevard and down a steep embankment into a ditch where it struck several trees, Barclay said.

The crash caused major damage to the passenger side of the vehicle. Courtney was able to climb out but her passenger was pinned inside and was cut out of the vehicle by responding Marin County and Novato
firefighters.

The passenger suffered major, life-threatening injuries and Courtney suffered moderate injuries, Barclay said. Both were taken to Marin General Hospital.

CHP officers determined Courtney was intoxicated ad she was arrested and booked in the Marin County Jail for felony DUI causing injuries, Barclay said.

All lanes of Novato Boulevard were blocked by emergency vehicles until around 3 a.m., Barclay said.

Related: Perseid Meteor Shower 2016 Is Peaking Now: Sensational Or Overhyped?

Also see:

• UPDATE On Calistoga-Area Crash: Sonoma Co. Woman Suffers Major Injuries
• Man Killed In Thursday Night Hit-and-Run On Sonoma Boulevard

--Bay City News/Image: Anthony Stewart Vardy via Flickr / Creative Commons