Driver in deadly road-rage crash charged with murder

Rohnert Park - A man suspected in a deadly road-rage crash in Sonoma County was charged Monday with murder.

Diego Alexis Diaz-Hernandez, 20, was also charged by prosecutors with assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving and hit-and-run in a rampage in which he caused at least three other crashes, authorities said.

On Monday, friends of Carena Piccinotti, 33, who was killed in one of the weekend crashes, stopped by a memorial to pay their respects. 

Authorities say Piccinotti was riding in the front seat of a silver VW Atlas Cross Sport that was intentionally rammed by a driver of a Mazda CX-30.

"Started ramming a vehicle there, rear-ending it multiple times," said California Highway Patrol Officer David deRutte.

DeRutte said the impact sent the VW into oncoming traffic on Stony Point Road near Rohnert Park Expressway at about 2 p.m. Saturday.

"Made that vehicle go out of control into the opposing lane," deRutte said. "A Mercedes went right into the passenger side of one of the vehicles the Mazda had pushed."

Piccinotti died at the scene. A man driving the VW he was in and a boy in the SUV suffered major injuries, as did the driver and passenger of the black Mercedes.

Rosie Garcia, who was selling drinks at a roadside stand nearby, said witnesses told her both the VW and the Mazda had been driving at high speed. 

"There were two cars racing," she said, adding she hoped drivers could react sensibly if confronted by someone who's angry behind the wheel.

"Don't race," Garcia said. "Be safe. I mean, life is wonderful. Don't put your life in danger just because of racing or whatever. It's not worth it."

The CHP could not confirm her account, and it's possible the VW driver could have been trying to get away from the Mazda. But authorities say the suspect in the Mazda didn't stop after the deadly crash. 

Instead, Cotati Police Chief Chris Simmons said the suspect was involved in another crash near Highway 116 and Redwood Drive, where the victim was pulling his truck into a gas station."

"We had a subject who had rear-ended an individual and then actually hit him again, so he hit our victim twice," Simmons said.

The chief says the suspect took off yet again but was arrested by one of his officers and the CHP after yet another crash on highway 101. 

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan