David Cortez Hurt in Fatal Santa Rosa Accident on Highway 12 near Merced Avenue

Santa Rosa, California – 26-year-old David Cortez of Santa Rosa was taken to a hospital following a fatal multi-vehicle accident on Highway 12, just west of Merced Avenue in Santa Rosa Monday morning.
According to California Highway Patrol, 32-year-old George A. Palma of Sebastopol was driving a Toyota Matrix east on Highway 12 when he, for unknown reasons, swerved into the westbound side and collided with an oncoming Ford transit van driven by Cortez.
The wreck happened at around 8:23 a.m. January 4.
After the impact, the van proceeded and collided with an Acura RDX driven by Marissa Pendleton, 20, of Sebastopol while the Toyota crashed into a Chevrolet box van that was being driven by Kazuhiro Hayashida, 24, of Santa Rosa.
Authorities said Palma succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Cortez was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries while Hayashida was hospitalized with major injuries.
Pendleton sustained minor injuries in the accident but was not hospitalized.
The CHP is investigating the crash.