Pedestrian Critically Injured In Santa Rosa Collision: Police

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A Santa Rosa man was hospitalized in critical condition Thursday night after he was struck by a car on state Highway 12 and Middle Rincon Road, police said. Officers were sent to the scene at 5:57 p.m., where witnesses told them a driver of a dark-colored SUV ran a red light and struck the male pedestrian as he was in a crosswalk.

The driver of the vehicle kept driving and was later found at the site of another collision at Highway 12 and Calistoga Road. The driver, an 80-year-old Santa Rosa woman, was apparently unaware she had just hit the man, police said.

After the collision with the man, the elderly woman driving an Infinity FX35 rear-ended a Toyota RAV4 driven by a 64-year-old Santa Rosa woman.

Police said the Infinity driver was cooperative with SRPD investigators at the scene of the second crash.

Neither drugs nor alcohol were immediately believed to be factors in the crashes, police said.

"The involved pedestrian has been identified as Austin Polen, a 25-year-old resident of Santa Rosa," police said in a news release issued at about 9 p.m. Thursday.

"Polen suffered major head trauma and multiple broken bones. He is currently listed in critical condition at the hospital," police said.

The major-injury collision left the intersection of Highway 12 and Middle Rincon Road closed to eastbound traffic for several hours Thursday night.

Anyone with information about the pedestrian collision is asked call Santa Rosa police Officer Jeff Adams at 707-543-3636.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Photos courtesy Santa Rosa Police Department