North Bay man charged with Christmas hit-and-run

A Rohnert Park man has been identified as the driver who fled a collision that critically injured an elderly couple Christmas night in Santa Rosa, police said Monday.

Ryan Hughes, 49, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of hit-and-run resulting in injury and violating terms of prison release, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. Sonoma County court records show his most recent felony conviction was in April 2015 after he pleaded no contest to numerous counts, including burglary and evading police.

The collision was reported about 6:30 p.m. Dec. 25 at Fourth Street and Bryden Way. The intersection is by the Proctor Terrace Elementary School in northeast Santa Rosa.

According to police, Hughes drove a Chevrolet Suburban involved in a collision with a Volkswagen Beetle occupied by a 71-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman. He was driving west on Fourth Street when he ran a red light and struck the victims as they entered the intersection on a green light, police said.

Firefighters freed them from the Volkswagen before paramedics took them to a hospital for injuries that were life-threatening. As of Monday, they were hospitalized in stable condition, police Sgt. Patricia Seffens said.

Police arrested Hughes Saturday afternoon at a motel on Cleveland Avenue. It did not appear drugs or alcohol were factors in the collision, Seffens said.

Hughes was being held at the Sonoma County jail Monday in lieu of $100,000 and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office is charging him with felony hit-and-run resulting in death or injury.