Crime & Safety
North Bay Man With Blood-Alcohol 5x Legal Limit Crashes Into House: Police
A man who allegedly was driving with a blood-alcohol level nearly five times the legal limit crashed his vehicle into a house.
PETALUMA - A Sonoma man who allegedly was driving with a blood-alcohol level nearly five times the legal limit crashed his vehicle into a house in south Petaluma on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Mitchell Butler, 51, lost control of his Ford Expedition, struck a parked car and then struck a front pillar of a house in the 200 block of Bond Avenue around 4:15 p.m., police said.
No one in the house was injured.
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The crash caused structural damage to the house and the garage was red-tagged by a building inspector, police said.
Mitchell said he was driving to his sister's house on South McDowell Boulevard when the crash occurred. He suffered cuts and bruises and was taken to Petaluma Valley Hospital, according to police.
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Police officers smelled alcohol while speaking to Mitchell and a pre-alcohol screening test showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.397 percent.
The level considered intoxicated is 0.08 percent.
Mitchell told officers his driver's license was suspended and he should not have been driving.
Police confirmed his California driver's license was suspended.
– By Bay City News Service. Image via Shutterstock.
