Driver fleeing cops hits tree at 100 mph, shears car in half — and lives, police say

A California driver fleeing police crashed his car at triple-digit speeds, sheared it in half lengthwise — and survived with non life-threatening injuries, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday.

A little after 11 p.m. on Saturday, a sheriff’s deputy on Highway 12 near Calistoga Road in Santa Rosa spotted a Hyundai Santa Fe driving nearly 90 mph, weaving and cutting off other motorists, in an area where the speed limit was 55 mph, the sheriff’s office said.

The deputy tried to stop the car, but the driver, later identified by police as Leudegario Reynaga of Santa Rosa, fled on Highway 12, driving at speeds of about 100 mph, officials said.

Reynaga was driving on a winding, tree-lined stretch of the highway when he turned off his headlights, the sheriff’s office said.

“Leudegario’s poor choices caught up with him when his vehicle left the road and struck a tree at triple digit speeds,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.

As a result of the crash, the Hyundai split in half — lengthwise — and was “completely obliterated,” officials said.

Reynaga was extricated from the wreck and taken to the hospital, where he was found to have minor injuries and was “medically cleared,” the sheriff’s office said.

Reynaga was taken to the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence, felony evasion of a peace officer, displaying false registration tabs and an outstanding domestic violence warrant from San Mateo County, according to the sheriff’s office.

The 22-year-old Reynaga is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail, according to jail records.

This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Driver fleeing cops hits tree at 100 mph, shears car in half — and lives, police say."