SUV crashes into Santa Rosa building after driver has medical emergency

An SUV crashed into a storage building belonging to a surgical supply business in Santa Rosa Wednesday night after the driver had a medical emergency, police said.

Just before 5:15 p.m., the driver was traveling west in a BMW SUV at about 50 or 60 mph when he had a medical emergency and crashed into another westbound vehicle. The collision forced the vehicle off the road and through a metal railing, wooden fence and into the structure in the 4900 block of Highway 12, Sgt. Patricia Seffens said.

Investigators didn’t find evidence the driver attempted to slow down before the initial crash, Seffens said.

The building was a storage facility adjacent to Sonoma Surgical Supply, according to a Press Democrat reporter at the scene Wednesday.

Sonoma Surgical Supply clerk Sebastein Reis said he had been in the storage building a few minutes before the crash, but no employees were there when it happened.

“Nobody got hurt,” Reis said Thursday. “We were very lucky to be leaving the store.”

The occupant in the vehicle struck by the BMW was not injured in the initial crash.

The SUV’s driver wasn’t hurt in either collision but was later taken to a hospital to be treated for his medical emergency.

Based on initial reports, officials said an individual had been hospitalized as a result of the collision.

The lane of traffic nearest the building was blocked for about an hour as authorities worked to clean up the building and tow the vehicle, Seffens said.

Police do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.