The SWAT team uses Stun Grenade and Gas to end the impasse that was closing Highway 101 in Santa Rosa – CBS San Francisco

SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) – A driver who did not stop Sunday morning in Geyserville to escape the traffic and nearly hit an officer of the California Highway Patrol was arrested following a lawsuit and an extended stalemate that closed the US 101 highway.

The CHP had temporarily stopped traffic at around 18:20 on the Geyserville Expressway during the work of the PG & E line when a driver of a white Honda Civic bypassed the closure and was approached the police station to hit an officer.

A continuation ensued southbound on Highway 101, the Honda sometimes exceeding 100 mph before being stopped by a sheer track at Shiloh Road, which stopped just at North River Road, south of Sonoma County Airport.

The highway was closed to traffic in both directions but the driver refused to get out of the Honda and, after a long confrontation during which the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office negotiators tried to convince him to go out, SWAT team from Sonoma County was convened.

The SWAT staff determined that the man was alone in the Honda and had used gasoline and a stun grenade to get him out of the car.

The driver, Eric Van Gelder, 56, from Geyserville, was taken to Sutter Hospital for a medical certificate.

He will be charged with escaping the police, drug-impaired driving and delaying / preventing the arrest, said the CHP.

The CHP stated that, even though the standoff was on the south side of Highway 101, both directions were closed "for the safety of the public and staff on the scene".

The northbound lanes reopened at 9:18 and the southbound lanes reopened at 9:31.

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