A 22-year-old motorcyclist has been arrested on the charge of suspected DUI after being involved in a crash that took the life of a 22-year-old woman last month.
The Union Democrat reports that Gavin Daniel Rogers, 22, was riding his motorcycle on Sunday, September 15th, with his passenger, Mary MacKenzie Suess, 22, on Longeway Road when he drove his Harley Davidson motorcycle through a stop sign, turning left onto westbound Phoenix Lake Road, heading to downtown Sonora.
During the course of the turn, the motorcycle ended up on its side, ejecting both Rogers and Suess and onto the pavement.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Suess, who had been wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, died at the scene, while Rogers, who had not been wearing a helmet at the time, suffered only minor injuries.
Ms., Seuss was well known in the community as the 2017 Mother Lode Roundup Queen.
CHP officer Steve Machado told reporters that Rogers was interviewed at the scene of the fatal crash and detected alcohol intoxication. He was booked into Tuolumne County Jail on the charges of suspicion of DUI causing bodily harm, suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and driving under the influence of alcohol causing death.
So far, the CHP has not released any further information regarding Rogers’ blood alcohol level at the time of the crash.
The Court has set Rogers’ bail at $100,000.
The accident is still currently under investigation.
