Paraplegic Man 'Lucky To Be Alive' After Suspected DUI Crash Transferred To Stanford

PALO ALTO, CA – A paraplegic man who was critically injured in a vehicle crash in Rohnert Park early Monday morning was transferred to Stanford Medical Center where he remains in critical condition, a Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety commander said.

"He is able to communicate," Cmdr. Aaron Johnson said this morning.

Johnson said the paraplegic passenger and the driver of the 2004 BMW are lucky to be alive.

The driver, William Kammerer, 27, of Santa Rosa, was arrested on suspicion of DUI causing injury and threatening the paramedics who took him to the hospital. He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Kammerer denies he was driving the car that crashed after he and his passenger left the nearby Graton Resort and Casino, Johnson said.

"They were the only ones in the vehicle," Johnson said.

An off-duty Rohnert Park public safety officer came upon the crash at the intersection of Golf Course and Country Club drives around 2 a.m. A witness driving behind the BMW said at least one person was ejected from the car, and neither Kammerer nor his passenger were wearing seat belts, Johnson
said.

Kammerer was speeding when he braked as he entered a left sweeping curve of the road. The car was still traveling at 60 mph after the brakes were applied. The wheels locked and the car struck a curb, snapping the right front wheel off its axle, Johnson said.

The BMW left the road and traveled another 230 feet on grass before stopping on a sidewalk on Country Club Drive, according to Johnson.

Considering the speed at the time of the crash, the distance the BMW traveled and the fact neither man was wearing a seatbelt, "There is no reason they are not dead," Johnson said.

The injured passenger is wanted on several warrants in the Los Angeles and San Bernardino area. His name was not being released because of his tenuous medical condition, Johnson said.

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--Bay City News/Photo via law enforcement