A Sonoma man is in custody for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter in connection with a fatal accident last night which closed Stage Gulch Road for three hours.
The CHP says 46-year-old Curtis Kapple was eastbound at 70 miles an hour around 5:30 p.m. when his 1969 Pontiac GTO came up behind a 1999 Mazda Miata driven by 61-year-old Philip Dennie, also of Sonoma.
Kapple reportedly accelerated and crossed over the double yellow lines into oncoming traffic. Kapple then tried to return to his own lane, but clipped the Miata and drove into a guardrail on the south side of the roadway just west of Watmaugh Road.
Dennie’s car veered off the road and onto the shoulder. A spokesperson for the Sonoma County Coroner said Kapple’s passenger, 47-year-old Sonoma resident Rick Allen DeGeorgis, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 6 p.m.
Dennie was unhurt, but Kapple suffered minor injuries and was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
CHP officer Jaret Paulson said Kapple’s blood-alcohol level could not be released due to the ongoing investigation, but added, “Alcohol is a factor that we are in fact investigating.”
